The Great Shizuma
by Chiharu-senpai
Summary: Inspired after reading The Great Gatsby, as you can tell by the title. TamaoxNagisa / YayaxTsubomi / implied ChikaruxShion. Shizuma returns to Astraea Hill one year after her graduation to stir up trouble for Tamao and Nagisa. EDITED.
1. Pen Pals

**THE GREAT SHIZUMA**

**Chapter One**

**Pen Pals**

Aoi Nagisa sat at her desk in her dorm, all her homework finished. She had something she needed to do now. She was glad her room mate, Suzumi Tamao, was away at a student government meeting. What would Tamao think of her doing such things?

Nagisa got up, strolled toward her bed, and lifted up her mattress. From under the mattress she withdrew a small pile of paper. But it wasn't just _any _pile of paper. They were letters, _her _letters, to the red-haired fifth year.

They were fifteen letters in all, sent and replied to in the course of four months, ranging from sweet and romantic to bitter and a bit brash. Nagisa sat back at her desk and chose the first one to read, as it was the sweetest in the bunch.

_Dear Nagisa,_

_The distance between Astraea Hill and St. Ninnian University is great, but our love is even greater. No matter how far we are, we will always be joined together by heart, by spirit. I trust that, with a bit of patience, we can weather this separation through until your graduation. Perhaps sooner. You are worth the wait, either way._

_Thank you very much for the photo you sent me. This way I won't have to rely too heavily on my imagination when I think of you. I think you know what I mean._

_(Is that Yaya and Tsubomi in the background? Haha, figures Yaya would disrupt a hornets' nest like that.)_

_Women's studies isn't a particularily exciting major, but it sure beats pre-law. Right now we are studying famous women in history; Jane Addams, people like that. Some of my classmates are theorizing that Shakespeare's plays were actually written by a woman. Run that by your bookworm of a room mate and see what she thinks._

_How _is _Astraea Hill? How are Hikari and Amane doing as Étoile? Whew, if there's one thing I don't miss about that place, it's my duties as Étoile. Actually, come to think about it, you are the only reason for me to miss Astraea Hill._

_Have fun being a fifth year, kiddo, but not too much fun. You know the limits._

_Love then, now, and forever,_

_Shizuma_

Nagisa closed her garnet-colored eyes and pressed the letter to her lips. Maybe some of Shizuma's skin cells still existed on that letter. She absorbed everything she could from that letter, every particle of hope, for she had had doubts. That would become very evident in future letters, but that is a story for later.

With an excited flourish, her room mate Tamao burst through the door. She twirled happily, the hemline of her uniform raising slightly.

"Welcome back, Tamao-chan," greeted Nagisa, hastily stashing the letters under her textbook. "My, my, don't you look jovial."

"I sure am," Tamao giggled, flopping dizzily on her bed. "I appealed to Spica and Lulim to have Strawberry Dorms act out _The Great Gatsby, _and it was approved! And I get to write the script!"

Though Nagisa had never read _The Great Gatsby, _she understood Tamao's excitement for having her play suggestion taken to heart. She beamed, "Tamao-chan, that's wonderful!"

Tamao stood back up and headed to her own desk. "I should start writing it now!"

Nagisa watched the blue-haired poet at her desk, a flurry of paper and pencils. It would be an superfluous to say she was romantic, because Tamao basically had no other kind of emotions. Everything she felt, every emotion, she felt with the passion of an anti-fur vegan.

"Who are you casting Hikari-sama and Amane-sama as?" the redhead asked.

Tamao paused long enough to say, "It's not my decision … But I'd like to see Amane-sama as Nick Carraway, the protagonist. And I think Hikari would play a terrific Daisy Buchanan." She smiled over her shoulder. "Perhaps my Nagisa-chan will be cast as Jay Gatsby. That doesn't mean you would _really _pine after Hikari-sama, right?"

"Eh?! Of course not!" She blinked. "What kind of character _is _Jay Gatsby?"

"Gatsby is a mysterious man, a neighbor and friend of Nick's. He's rich and throws all these extravagant parties. There are rumors that he killed a man and that he's a German spy."

"And how would I remind the cast manager of him?"

"You wouldn't." Tamao blushed. "I just thought you'd sound so cute going around saying 'old sport.'"

"Maybe I ought to read this _Great Gatsby_," Nagisa thought.

"You'd enjoy it," the poet nodded. "Kind of an anticlimactic ending, though. I was disappointed by it." She brightened as a hammer blow of inspiration struck her in the head, the heart. "Maybe when I write the script, I can make it a little more climatic." And she was writing again, intensely so, bent far over her desk, her face only inches away from her paper.

Nagisa found herself grinning at Tamao's furor. The poet was just so exuberant, so enthusiastic. It was kind of cute how excited she got sometimes. And it was nice to see her so inspired, hear her using literature terms that Nagisa didn't understand. This was _her. _This was Tamao. She was the best room mate a girl could ever ask for.

The redhead's smile faded, however, when she saw the stack of letters peeping out from under her French textbook. Room mates were nice, but could they take the place of _her?_

---

It was midnight in the Strawberry Dorms. The hallways, normally colored in vibrant creamy yellow hues, were subdued to black and white in the darkness. Little squares of silver moonlight decorated the hardwood floors here and there. It was hauntingly silent.

Two slight shadows slipped through the moony patches of light. They belonged to none other than Tsukidate Chiyo and Okuwaka Tsubomi. The two second years were making their way to Nanto Yaya's room where Yaya herself and Konohana Hikari would be. The four of them would then go to Tamao and Nagisa's room for tea.

Chiyo was walking a little more closely to Tsubomi than the latter was comfortable with. She jumped away, demanding, "Stop clinging to me!"

"_Gomen nasai_," whispered Chiyo. "I just hate the dorms at night. It's creepy."

"Everything's creepy at eleven-thirty at night," she conceded. They pressed onward until Tsubomi's foot hit a loose floor board. The silence had maximized the volume of the resulting squeak by ten. Chiyo squealed in surprise.

The roseate-haired Spican whirled around and clapped a hand over Chiyo's mouth. "Be quiet, _baka!_" she hissed. "You wanna wake up the whole dorm? Jeez!" And she turned around and continued on her way.

"_G-gomen nasai_."

---

Aside from the floor board incident, they made it to Yaya's room smoothly. Yaya, a medium-heighted fourth year with black hair, answered the door with that teasing grin on her face.

"Well, if it ain't Chiyo-chan and the brat. Good evening."

"I'm not a brat!" Tsubomi protested. "I'm thirteen."

"Wow, thirteen," Yaya gasped sarcastically.

Hikari, the Étoile cadette, sighed as she and Chiyo walked on ahead of the two rivals. When the whole tea party thing first started, she found their arguments mildly entertaining. But it had gotten old and tiresome very quickly. _It's kinda cute, _she thought, _but mostly stupid._

Now they were squabbling about each other's pajamas.

"At least I don't wear frog pajamas," said Tsubomi. "I mean, really! Should I call you Kermit from now on?"

"Only if I can call you Bugs," Yaya smirked. "Did your _mother _buy those bunny PJ's?"

"I don't have to answer to that!"

The raven-haired girl shrugged, knowing that she had won. She usually did.

Hikari rolled her blue eyes.

---

One thing the Étoile cadette was glad of: she could still have these midnight tea parties with her friends. Not that she _hated _being Étoile. Just the opposite, in fact. She loved having the honor of representing the interests of all three schools. She and Amane were the perfect combination of Miator's intelligence, Spica's discipline, and Lulim's ambience.

But she hadn't liked it when her friends called her "Étoile-sama." She was still Hikari, after all. Eventually, she shyly asked them to just call her by her name. They complied with that, but refused to drop the respectful honorific. It made her feel old.

"Welcome, Hikari-sama," Tamao greeted, admitting the Étoile in her room. "Yaya-chan. Tsubomi-chan. Chiyo-chan."

"Honestly, Tamao-chan," Hikari sighed. "You're older than me. You don't have to call me Hikari-sama."

"Age is only a number. You're still Étoile."

Hikari only hummed a bit as she knelt in front of the round table. "What kind of tea are we having tonight?"

"Chamomile."

"My favorite!" Chiyo beamed as she knelt next to Nagisa. "I hear you chose the drama festival's play, Tamao-oneesama, and you're writing the script! Congratulations."

Tamao blushed and muttered a shy thank you.

"What play are the upperclassmen doing?" Tsubomi inquired.

"A dramatization of F. Scott Fitzgerald's _The Great Gatsby_," Hikari responded with a smile. "I'm looking forward to it."

"I've never heard of it," Nagisa said oddly.

"It's one of my favorites," Tamao smiled, sipping her tea. "I read it last year in my World Literature class."

"I'm taking that now," said Yaya. "I hate that class!"

"It's better than Japanese Studies," the redhead commented dryly. Japanese Studies was the most demanding class she'd ever taken. It counted for both a history credit and a literature credit. Therefore the class was twice as long. By the end of it, Nagisa was looking forward to moving on to her next class, which was French. It got that bad that fast.

"Didn't you take World Lit, Nagisa-chan?" Hikari asked.

"No. I decided to take Brit Lit instead."

"Yaya-senpai," Tsubomi spoke up, "what play are the underclassmen doing?"

"I dunno. You tell me," Yaya grinned.

_Oh, yeah. Yaya's an upperclassmen now. _"So, uh, who's in charge, then?"

"Beats me. I have no idea what goes on with the underclassmen these days."

"Don't _you _seem pleased as punch," the pink-haired girl scowled.

"Um, Tsubomi-chan," Hikari, who didn't want to hear another spat between them, piped up. "I think Remon-chan was put up to deciding on the underclassmen's performance. You could talk to her."

"Thank you, Hikari-sama."

Yaya giggled. "Aww, Tsubomi's blushing!"

"Am not."

"Are, too." The raven-haired fourth grader began to sing. "Tsubomi-chan likes the Étoile-sama!" She was silenced by a pillow to her face.

Nagisa buried her face in her hands. "I don't get it," she groaned. "If all they ever do is fight, why do they stick around each other?"

Tamao smiled. "There's more to it than meets the eye, Nagisa-chan." A knowing look passed between her and Hikari.

---

A few days later.

Dusk was settling over Astraea Hill. The six o'clock curfew was bearing down on the students, who hurried on towards their rooms. The summer heat brought shimmers on the horizon as well as a few notes from the crickets. The setting sun cast its dusty rays over the campus, bathing everything in a buttery soft glow. There is no such beauty as a summer sunset at Astraea Hill.

Chikaru had something going on. In her last year at Astraea Hill, the Lulim President had seriously started preparing for her future. While she hadn't decided on a college, she knew she wanted to major in art or design. Just earlier that day, she'd thought it would be a good idea to compile a portfolio to submit.

Now the sixth grader sat on her bed, back against the wall, with her pencil and Strathmore vellum-surface Bristol pad. Her original plan was to sketch herself and her friends, but she wanted to add something extra. A theme. But what? _Which theme should I choose?_

She looked up and smiled at Shion, her girlfriend and the President of Spica. The tall, slight blonde sixth year was sitting on the bed opposite Chikaru's and reading the paper.

"What's the scoop for today?"

Shion blinked her lavender eyes and looked up, as if she had forgotten where she was. "I'm honestly not all that much into the news. I just like the crosswords, sudokus, and horoscopes," she confessed.

"Is that so? What do the planets have in store for you today?"

Shion turned to the back of the newspaper and read her horoscope aloud. "'Capricorn --- Lighten up. Responsible Saturn transcends into Sagittarius today, making your luck all that much better.'"

Chikaru set down her pad of paper and stretched her arms. "Shion, I've been telling you for the past two years to lighten up." She laughed heartily at the Spican's indignant expression. "What does _my _horoscope say?"

Shion huffed. "'Pisces --- Don't second-guess yourself. If you get an idea for a project today, seize it. It will be a good idea in the end.'"

"Hm," the Lulim President grunted as she picked up her paper. "What symbolizes Pisces?"

Shion smiled sheepishly. "I actually know nothing of astrology beyond my own sign. If you think about it, though, it sounds like _pêcher_, the French verb for fishing." She checked her watch. "I ought to return to my room."

"Could you leave that newspaper with me, please?" An idea had worked its way into Chikaru's head, and like any sensible Pisces that day, she seized it without a doubt.

"Of course."

"Thank you."

And with that, Shion kissed Chikaru, bade her _bonne nuit_, and departed for her dorm.

---

After choir practice, Tsubomi headed back to the dorms at a hasty pace, her cap clutched anxiously in her hands. Yaya had not been at rehearsal today. The senpai's skipping practices was nothing new, but it was something that got under the second grader's skin. Yaya was an amazing singer, the pride of the Saintly Chorus. Her tonal and dynamic range had gone down in legend. It aggravated Tsubomi to think that someone with so much talent wouldn't apply herself. Needless to say, Yaya was in for a scolding from the youngster.

"Tsubomi-chan!"

The Spican halted and turned around to face she who hailed her. It was Remon.

"Hello, Remon-chan," Tsubomi greeted once the jade-haired third year caught up with her. They turned and headed back to the dorms together.

"I just got done talking to Hikari-sama," said Remon. "She says you're intensely interested in the middle school play."

"_Hai. _Do you have any ideas?"

"I do. I've narrowed it down to four choices --- two plays, an opera, and a musical. I'll have it put to a vote."

"Well, what are the titles?"

The Lulim third grader adjusted her glasses on her nose and read off the titles from a sheet of paper. "_Julius Caesar, Antigone, The Marriage of Figaro, _and _Hello Dolly!_"

"We can't do _The Marriage of Figaro. _It's all in Italian."

"Yeah, no one seems to like that one. I'll just get rid of it."

"I have my doubts about _Julius Caesar, _too. We just did a Shakespeare play last year." Tsubomi smiled at the memory of it. Despite what others thought, she believed her performance as the fair Juliet Capulet was amazing.

Remon sighed, clearly annoyed. "Tsubomi, rather than telling me which plays _not _to choose, why don't you just give me your _vote_, already?"

"Okay… Um, I'd like to do _Hello Dolly!_"

"_Hello Dolly! _is a favorite among choir members," the third year observed as she marked something on her paper. "Okay. Thank you for your time, Tsubomi-chan. See you around!"

---

June was such a miserable month. The air had turned hot and suffocating humid. Nagisa felt disgusting with all that sweat filming over her body, her auburn hair curling and plastering itself to her head, her ponytail a ratty knot. She had stripped down to her undergarments and lay spread-eagled on the floor. Tamao was away at club activities, so the redhead had the room to herself. Scattered all around her were Shizuma's letters. She'd just finished reading the last one, the bitterest of the lot.

_Dear Nagisa,_

_I am awash with the most potent feelings for you, those which I cannot express in words, and yet I feel troubled. You seemed so distant in your last letter. I understand that no relationship can go without its scrapes, but I do not know what more I can do to iron this out. There was no avoiding it, Nagisa; I was going to graduate and you were going to stay at Miator for a couple more years. We both knew it, but we skirted around it. We were soft, cowardly. I regret that. I think the easiest thing for both of us would be to break off our letters for awhile. Feel free to reply to this letter if you please, but I won't be writing you for a long time. I'll see you again someday, and we'll work this out, and I'll still love you, Nagisa. I couldn't stop loving you even if I tried._

_Best wishes,_

_Shizuma_

_Was she trying not to love me? _Nagisa wondered. _Did she regret our relationship? _There were so many mixed signals in that last letter. She couldn't puzzle it out, and trying to just made her head hurt. She must have been succumbing to the heat because she started seeing things in the ceiling.

Footsteps now sounded from down the hall, advancing toward her room. Tamao was coming back. Nagisa could've moved if she wanted to, but…she didn't want to. She no longer cared what the poet thought, nor anyone else for that matter.

Her eyes snapped open once she realized there was more than one set of footsteps. Voices, too. Nagisa strained to catch the voices, hear what they were saying. By the sound of it, one of them belonged to Chikaru; the other one…

"I kept feeling like…like breaking off our letters was a mistake…"

"No. You did the right thing." Chikaru's voice. "Relationships are hard. Sometimes you just need to step back and look at things."

Her scarlet eyes widened and cold sweat snaked down her forehead. _Oh no._

"She's missed you." The Lulim President's gentle voice was coming closer and closer. "I could tell. This reunion might be good for her." The footsteps ceased and there was a knock on the door. "Nagisa-chan…?"

The redhead's young heart broke into a gallop. She jumped up and looked frantically about. _No, no, no, no, NO! _She silently cursed her indolence, then tried to shove the letters in a hiding place and put on her uniform at the same time. _I look like crap! Shizuma can't see me like this!_

"I don't know if she's in there, but you can go in if you want."

_Oh, no! NO!!! _Nagisa wanted to scream those words, but her breath caught in her throat. The knob was turning. All she could do was turn her back to the door and clamp her arms around her breasts.

She heard the door creak open, and that was it. No gasps. No exclamations. Hesitantly, she turned around and found herself facing Chikaru and…Shizuma.

Chikaru had her hand cupped around her chin with that knowing smile on her face. Shizuma stood tall, her thin, scornful lips curled up in a smirk, a naughty glimmer in her narrow green eyes. "Oh, Nagisa," those eyes said, "you haven't changed a bit." The redhead stiffened when she heard Shizuma giggle.

Tamao burst into the room, the completed script in her hands. First she glared at Shizuma and inquired hotly, "What are _you _doing here?" Then her attention shifted to her room mate. The poet clapped a hand to her opoen mouth at the sight of what Nagisa was and wasn't wearing.

What could she do? The auburn-haired girl awkwardly raised her fingers off her shoulder and wiggled them in greeting. That made Tamao's nose bleed.


	2. Confessions

**THE GREAT SHIZUMA**

**Chapter Two**

**Confessions**

"Whaddya _mean _you're allergic to ragweed?" Tsubomi yelled. She started to pace the room.

"_Gomen nasai_," Yaya muttered. Her congestion made her apology sound like "_gomed dathai_." _Why am I apologizing for having allergies?_ she wondered.

"Jeez, your voice…" The younger girl pulled her hair worriedly. "The concert's tomorrow. What are you going to do? Ohh, and you have that solo, too! Arrgh!"

"There's that other girl, Minako, on Alto I. She could fill in that solo for me." Yaya sniffled. "…Uh, well, my voice is out of tune. Horribly flat, I'm afraid…Probably just won't go…" She paused. "Wait. Why are you _here? _Did you come to my dorm specifically to yell at me?"

"Eh? No." Tsubomi straightened and put her hands on her hips, wore her trademark scowl. "I need a shower, and the pilot light's out in my dorm, and, well, n-nobody likes a cold shower." _Oh, man. I didn't seriously just stutter? _But the way her senpai fixed her with that gaze made her nervous.

Lying. Yaya knew. Every room in the Strawberry Dorms was connected to the same plumbing system. If Tsubomi's shower was cold, then hers would be as well. And the raven-haired girl had taken a shower not fifteen minutes ago, and the water had been pleasantly warm.

"Okay, now tell me the _real _reason you're here."

Tsubomi's topaz-colored eyes widened. She arced an eyebrow curiously. "What?"

"Are you here to see Hi-kar-iiii?" Yaya sang the Étoile's name teasingly.

The younger girl's cheeks pinkened to match the shade of her hair. "Of course not, _baka! _That's why _you're _here!"

"No. I'm here because I _live _here." Yaya grinned. Tsubomi was kind of cute when she was angry, which was more or less all the time. "Look at you. You got the hots for the Étoile! What would Amane say?"

"You're an idiot, Yaya-senpai!"

"Tsubomi, Tsubomi, Tsubomi. You wouldn't stand a chance with Hikari-sama."

"More of a chance than _you. _Hikari-sama doesn't go for stupid girls."

"Sometimes I doubt she goes for girls, period," Yaya grunted. "I mean, if she's dating _Amane-sama…_"

"Wow." The comment was offensive, but Tsubomi found herself giggling nonetheless. "You're an idiot _and _a bitch."

"Look, Tsubomi-chan, she's not pretty. Even you'll admit that."

"She's kinda pretty. Not _gorgeous, _but okay." The second year sighed and plopped down on the bed next to her senpai. "But seriously? I don't think Hikari-sama _cares _about all that. How people look and stuff."

"Everyone can be ugly if she sets her mind to it."

Tsubomi shook her head. "She'd think Amane's ugly, but not _you._" She stiffened. That did not come out the way she intended.

"Tsubomi-chan…" Yaya's voice sounded odd, different, unlike how the person in question had ever heard her. The name came out partly like a gasp, partly like a sigh. It terrified the youngster, who sat up straight and looked away.

"I meant that like you're her best friend," she frowned. "Of course she can think you're _kawaii_." Wince.

"I know what you meant," her senpai said softly.

Tsubomi gazed bashfully at her hands in her lap. She could feel the weight on the bed shifting, heard some springs squeak. She felt Yaya's fingers ever so softly on her chin and looked back up. The temperature of the room seemed to shoot up ten degrees. _Why _do _I wear sweaters in June? _Yaya's fingers slid gently along Tsubomi's jaw until the older girl was cupping the younger girl's left cheek in her hand. Then Yaya pulled Tsubomi toward her and the second year's breath froze in her lungs. And, just like that, Yaya kissed Tsubomi on the cheek.

---

Nagisa shivered under her covers. She felt ill. Her head, hands, and feet were cold, the rest of her body uncomfortably hot. Sweaty. How could one shiver and sweat at the same time? She was seeing spots. Her eyes hurt. Her heart lurched. Room tilting.

_I can't believe she's back._

Tamao knelt nearby, preparing mint tea for her peaked room mate. The exact same thought occupied her mind. Admittedly, the poet didn't know much about Nagisa and Shizuma's relationship --- not knowing probably had more perks than Tamao herself realized. What was that silver-haired fiend doing here? Tamao knew this at least: Shizuma broke up with Nagisa. So why was she back? Just…just _why?_

The poet sighed. So many questions, not enough answers. Maybe there was a couplet in that line somewhere. Tamao abandoned the water heater briefly to jot that down in her notebook. She then got water and fever reducers and held them out to the redhead.

"Take these."

Nagisa lifted her arm out and was punished by a searing cold pain lancing up her arm, her side. With an agonized moan, she withdrew her arm and burrowed deeper under the covers. The room just felt so damn freezing!

Tamao was normally delighted to see her love interest's troubled expressions, for it gave her a sense of duty. Obligated felt the blue-haired poet to take care of her Nagisa. But this was different. There was nothing cute about a sick Nagisa, shivering under two quilts in June, her normally vibrant eyes now dim and glassy. Also, it wasn't cute knowing what had made her like this. Tamao laid her hand gently on the redhead's hot forehead only to have Nagisa recoil with another moan.

"Your hand is so cold. It hurts…"

"Where does it hurt?"

"All over." Her voice broke. She sounded close to tears. "So much pain, it hurts just to move…"

Tamao tilted her head, grave concern showing in her deep opalescent eyes. She didn't know what to do other than offer the pills again.

"These will make you feel better."

Nagisa hesitated before sticking only her hand out from under the covers. The sight was truly pitiful, made her arm look short, like a T-rex. Somehow the pills and the water passed through her painfully swollen throat.

Her tea was ready then. Tamao set the cup on her nightstand, saying she didn't have to drink it if she didn't want to.

"I think I'm g-g-gonna try t-to sleep." Nagisa was shivering constantly now. Her spine ached. Damn cold. She pulled her knees up higher, hugged them closer to her chest.

Suddenly the poet found herself with a clever idea. It put her at risk of getting sick, but what was a little flu bug anyway?

"Nagisa-chan, if you feel cold, I could sleep with you to keep you warm."

The girl in question turned her garnet-colored eyes up toward Tamao. "A-are you sure?"

Tamao offered up a friendly smile, saying, "Of course. My body heat could make you feel warm without overheating you."

Nagisa said nothing, but slowly shifted a bit to make room for the poet. Tamao nearly gasped as she felt the shock of heat in the sheets her best friend had previously laid upon. She reached for Nagisa, to put her arms around her, to cuddle her, to comfort her, when she realized her palm had come in contact with the redhead's bare midriff. Nagisa had never put clothes on, and was laying in bed still in only her bra and underwear.

_Am I taking this to far?_ she thought. "Nagisa-chan…?"

But her friend was out like a light.

---

Nagisa awoke with a start that morning. Last night's almost convulsive shivering was replaced by a heavy sweat this morning. Her auburn bangs were plastered wetly against her glistening forehead. Last night she felt cold. This morning she felt swelteringly hot. Her fever had broken.

She tried to sit up, but something weighed her down. Tamao's arm draped across her stomach. _Oh yeah. She offered to sleep with me last night. _Nagisa sighed and laid back down, in no particular hurry to get out of bed anyway.

_It was awfully nice of Tamao-chan to take care of me last night. _Tamao did a lot of nice things for her, Nagisa realized. She was probably the kindest, most gentle person she had ever met. The poet liked to engage in gossip, but the redhead had never heard her say anything bad about anybody. That was admirable. And the feeling of Tamao's body pressed against hers, skin to skin, was really quite nice. It felt like pressure. Good pressure.

_It's like… It's like I'm in love…with Tamao. _Nagisa couldn't help a smile creeping on her youthful features. She no longer felt a suffocating heat, but a boisterous warmth. She closed her eyes and brought Tamao's hand to her waist, pulling her closer.

Ever the light sleeper, the poet was awoken by the movement. With a drowsy sigh, she slowly raised her touseled head, squinting at the light. She smiled when she saw Nagisa.

"_Ohayo_," she greeted, throat clogged with sleep. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better," the redhead muttered, still grinning.

"That's good." Tamao settled back down, her head resting on Nagisa's shoulder.

"Tamao-chan…?"

"Yeah?"

"Do… Do you love someone?"

The poet propped herself up on her elbow. Her cerulean eyebrows knitted together in confusion. She squinted. "That was kind of random. Where did that come from?"

Nagisa didn't want to give an out-and-out confession. She shrugged. "Just curious."

Tamao's expression softened. "_Hai. _I do love someone." She laid back down. "The girl I love…" She sighed and pushed her azure bangs out of her eyes. "…is an energetic person who can't be held down for too long. The girl I love has large, beautiful eyes and an even larger heart." She looked at Nagisa, a certain warmth in her amethyst eyes. "The girl I love is laying here in bed with me."

---

Tamao had been scared as shit to finally tell Nagisa how she felt. But there was something in the way her best friend was acting that gave her the confidence. Tamao wasn't the kind of girl to be scared of being around someone she loved. She could be normal, sort of. She could gaze into Nagisa's face, which now had an indescribable expression on it.

The redhead had her hands on Tamao's trim waist and slid them up to her shoulders. The poet froze as Nagisa brought her face closer to her own. Nagisa then tilted her head and parted her lips slightly. Tamao closed her eyes, ready to intercept the kiss. But at the crucial moment where they could have come closest, a creaking sound came from behind. Both girls pulled apart and turned their attention warily to the door in which stood Shizuma.

The silver-haired vixen stood erect, stiff as rigormortis. Her normally narrow eyes were as round and wide as dinner plates. They remained so as her eyebrows came down angrily over them. She looked absolutely terrifying.

As said earlier, Tamao wasn't afraid. She smirked at Shizuma, "You need to learn how to knock."


	3. L O V E Love

**THE GREAT SHIZUMA**

**Chapter Three**

**L.O.V.E. Love**

Tsubomi sat in World History class, chin in palm, fingertips caressing her right cheek. Her classmates were reading about World War II from the textbook. Each girl's voice registered as a cacophony of _blahblahblah_'s in the pink-haired girl's ears. Tsubomi would normally be giving full attention to her work, but presently Japan's involvement in World War II hardly seemed important.

She could still feel Yaya's lips pressed into her cheek. It had been a quick kiss, but warm and wet nonetheless. Her senpai had withdrawn hastily, uncertainty flashing in her brown eyes. Tsubomi imagined she had been affecting the same expression. This was Yaya, after all. The high and mighty upperclassmen who detested underclassmen. "Noisy," she called them. "Obnoxious," she called them. So why did she kiss one? And what about Hikari? Tsubomi thought Yaya had the hots for her.

_But then she's allowed to move on. If the girl I liked became Étoile with someone else, I'd be inclined to do the same thing. But why me? _That was what really got her. Yaya was always picking on her. She called her brat, squirt, peewee, etcetera. Last time Tsubomi checked, those were not terms of endearment.

"Okuwaka-san…?"

Her sensi's voice yanked her back to reality. Everyone was staring at her. Tsubomi suspected this wasn't the first time the sensi had called her name. She jumped up, nearly knocking over her chair in her haste. She grabbed the book and realized that she may have been on the wrong page. She was too proud, however, to ask the teacher what page to read and just started right from the top.

"'Americans would call it the day to live on in infamy. On December 7 ---'"

"You are on the wrong page, Okuwaka-san," the sensi interrupted. "We finished reading that fifteen minutes ago. Turn to page 83, and start from the second paragraph."

Tsubomi heard giggles, felt her face burn. She flipped ahead a few pages. A map of Japan graced the page opposite the one she was to read, with the cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki boldened. _Wow, I really fell behind, _the young Spican thought. She read aloud about the Manhattan Project and sat down, smiling sheepishly.

"Thank you, Okuwaka-san. Please try to stay with us. Haruna-san…?"

The girl behind her stood and read about the dropping of the atomic bomb, a topic in history that never failed to give Tsubomi nightmares. But almost as soon as the reading started up again, the pink-haired second year found herself once again lost in thought.

_What should I do? What should I say?_

---

"Kagome-chan!"

Tsubomi saw the Lulim second year in the cathedral and ran up to meet her. The Spican usually saw Kagome as odd, didn't talk to her much, but she knew she could confide in her without criticism.

"Hi," Kagome whispered shyly, clutching Pashibaru, her precious stuffed bear, close to her chest.

Tsubomi suddenly felt very awkward. Kagome always had that effect on her. The way the Lulim underclassman avoided eye contact and barely spoke unnerved her. Weren't those symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome?

"Uhh, where were you headed?"

"Star Gazing Club with Kizuna-chan and Remon-chan."

The pink-haired Spican glanced briefly at the sunlight filtering through the stained glass windows.

Kagome smiled a little. "We don't literally watch the stars. It's a club dedicated to the research of astrology. Chikaru started it."

Tsubomi raised an eyebrow and nodded. Sounded interesting. Usually Lulim's clubs sounded stupid and pointless to her. _Too bad Spica doesn't have a club like that. I'd join._

Wee Kagome's smile faded as she gazed at Pashibaru, then back at Tsubomi. "Pashibaru says that Tsubomi-chan is worried. What are you worried about?"

The Spican sighed, turned her amber eyes to the ceiling, wiped her sweaty palms on her skirt. "Okay. Um, last night, I was in Yaya-senpai's room, and we were, uh, arguing. You know how we can be." In such a desperate moment even someone as mulish as Tsubomi could acknowledge the stupidity in hers and Yaya's disputes. "And I…I sorta told her she was cute…and, erm, she kissed me. On the cheek."

Kagome's expression didn't change. She simply nodded and asked, "What did you do?"

"After she kissed me?"

Another nod.

"I…I didn't know what to do! I just sat there, staring at her. Then I jumped up, she wished me good luck on tonight's concert, and I ran out."

"And now you don't know if you should talk to her."

"_Hai._" Tsubomi realized she was blushing. She put her palms to her warm cheeks.

"Pashibaru wants to know why Tsubomi-chan was in Yaya's room in the first place."

What a question! It left her speechless --- a first for Tsubomi. She dropped her hands and stared curiously at Kagome.

"Did you drop by her room just to pick a fight with her?"

Truth be told, Tsubomi herself didn't know why she went there. Her homework was done, her room mate was out, and she just didn't feel like reading _The Jungle. _She was bored. But the realistic side of her snorted: _Drop it, Tsubomi. You're only kidding yourself._

Kagome smiled, her emerald eyes swimming. "You like Yaya-oneesama. That is why you went?"

The Spican had no choice but to swallow her pride and own up. "_Hai_," she admitted. "I like Yaya-senpai. A lot." Her head felt so hot from blushing. "Don't let me burden you, though. You have Star Gazing and my call time for the concert is soon." She paused. "I…enjoyed talking with you, Kagome-chan."

"Likewise."

"Welp, see you around!" She turned and ran in the direction of the cathedral hall, where the choir rehearsed.

"Tsubomi-chan." The Lulim second year's soft voice reached her ears. She halted and whirled around, her topaz eyes wide and expectant.

Kagome was no longer smiling and her tone was serious. "You should talk to Yaya-oneesama."

Tsubomi nodded assent, changed direction, and ran off toward Strawberry Dorms.

---

Yaya sat alone in her room, which she resided by her lonesome in ever since Hikari was named Étoile and moved in with Amane. Her chest hurt. Her heart wasn't right. Her head felt too heavy to hold up. She rested it on her knees.

Had she been too brash yesterday? Maybe Tsubomi really _didn't _mean _kawaii _in a loving way. Of course, Yaya had been too hard-headed to listen to her. Last year, when she was fourteen, she made this mistake with Hikari and it nearly cost them their friendship. One year later, she was fifteen and making the same mistake with Tsubomi. She was quite certain that her kohai wouldn't forgive her as readily. _Will I ever learn? _Yaya thought. _I should kiss Nagisa and Tamao while I'm at it. Then I'll have no friends._

Tears stung her eyes. She let them roll unchecked down her cheeks and drip from her chin. A perk to having the room to herself: she could just cry whenever she wanted to.

She heard a timid knock on the door. Probably Hikari. Yaya sat up, wiped away her tears. "Come in."

The door opened slowly and Tsubomi stepped in.

Yaya didn't know what to say, didn't know what to do. Just like yesterday with the kiss. _She came back. That means she doesn't hate me. _That made things easier. Yaya offered up her signature wise-guy smirk and said, "What's up, pipsqueak?"

Normally Tsubomi would have indignantly puffed out her cheeks, snapped a sharp retort. But the better part of her told her to be a little more serious. "I could ask the same of you, Yaya-chan. You've been crying. What's wrong?"

Where to begin? Yaya had never been good at putting her feelings into words. She was more of a do-er, an action taker. Choosing her words carefully, she replied, "I…didn't think you'd come back. I was worried."

The fact that Yaya had been every bit as freaked out as Tsubomi was such a relief to the second grader that she chuckled. "Of course I came back. A kiss like that, who wouldn't come back?"

Yaya looked up. "So you liked it?"

"Mm-hmm."

"You seemed…scared."

"Not scared. More like surprised." Tsubomi had never been good at calming people down while they were crying, but sitting down on the bed and putting a hand on her shoulder seemed to do the trick for Yaya. Her tears stopped coming and she grinned.

"Yesterday was your first kiss, right?"

The second year scowled. "Hecky, naw! I've been kissed plenty of times!" Yaya raised an eyebrow. Tsubomi continued, "Let's see… That would be six times, not including the times with my room mate." Her room mate. The thought of kissing that dork made Tsubomi grimace.

Yaya inched closer to her kohai. "If you're so experienced, I'd think you'd play yesterday a bit more cool." She brought her hand to Tsubomi's burning face. "Could've you gotten out of here faster?"

"Th-this is no fair!" the pink-haired girl spluttered, pulling away. "How old were _you _when _you _were first kissed?"

"Twelve." Yaya hadn't missed a beat.

Beaten in yet another argument, Tsubomi glowered and crossed her arms over her chest.

Meanwhile, Yaya was recalling her cringe-worthy memory of her first kiss. It was the summer of her first year. She was at home, and it was with her older brother's friend (who was fourteen at the time). Her brother, upon hearing what his friend had done to his little sister, chased him down and beat him up. And to this day, she was known in her neighborhood for that incident. She could make Tsubomi's first kiss ten times better.

Yaya wrapped her arms around her shoulders and pulled her closer. The second year stiffened, growing more nervous.

"It's okay if yesterday was your first," the fourth grader assured softly. "It doesn't matter to me."

She was coming closer still. Tsubomi could feel her breath on her cheek, the very same her senpai had kissed just the other day.

"I want to kiss you again."

Tsubomi turned to look at Yaya and at that very moment their mouths came together, and hard, the force of the kiss nearly knocking the younger girl onto her back. She steadied herself with her hand, her other hand coming to Yaya's face as the initial shock wore off. Her senpai broke off the kiss, but didn't stop there. After taking a second to breathe, she moved in for another kiss. Tsubomi was ready this time. She tilted her head so her nose wouldn't get bashed this time.

This kiss was considerably deeper and made Tsubomi feel light-headed. A weird zoomy feeling formed in her lower abdomen, causing her hands to falter. Again, the room grew unpleasantly hot. Sweat beaded her arms and chest under her sweater. Frustrated, Tsubomi pulled back, yanked the damn thing off over her head, and threw it down on the floor.

"Oh, um…" Yaya tapped her chin pensively. "I don't want to spoil the moment, but I have some bad news. I should tell you before I forget again."

Tsubomi's ocher eyes narrowed. "What?"

"Minako went into the infirmary this morning. She has the flu."

"The flu," she echoed dumbly.

"_Hai._ So that means our entire Alto I section is out. Therefore the solo falls on the primary Alto II."

The second year froze, understanding now where Yaya was going with this.

Her senpai smiled gently. "Don't worry, Tsubomi-chan. I know you can do it."

"No I can't! Are you crazy?" She jumped up off the bed and stood before Yaya, her body coiled tight like a spring. "I've never rehearsed that solo. I've never even _seen _that solo!"

Yaya opened a drawer and pulled out a battered leather-bound folder. "No better time to start learning than right now!" She pulled the sheet music out. "It's not _that _difficult, Tsubomi-chan. Well within your tonal range---"

"But not my dynamic range," Tsubomi interrupted, noting a measure in the solo where she would have to crescendo from piano to fortissimo in only three beats.

"Tone is more important than volume. If you can't exactly reach fortissimo, that's fine, just as long as you're singing a clear and perfect D."

The second year reluctantly accepted the music. She had no choice. She would have to sing that solo. It was a total of ten bars long, not too much movement. She could do this fine.


	4. Blue Moon

**THE GREAT SHIZUMA**

**Chapter Four**

**Blue Moon**

"Hey, Nagisa-chan. You here? Hellooooo."

Tamao's hand waving in front of her face made Nagisa surface back to reality. She blinked and looked around, not sure how she got here. _Here _was the auditorium lobby, milling with students from all three schools. The room hummed with millions of conversations. The people she found herself with --- Tamao, Shizuma, and Yaya --- added their own conversation to the cacophony.

"Tsubomi-chan left this in my room," said Yaya, holding up a beige sweater. "I wonder if she'll want it back?"

Shizuma snickered. Tamao shook her head, muttering, "Do I want to know?"

"So allow me to apologize for this morning," Shizuma piped up.

Tamao merely grunted. Nagisa brightened and said, "It's okay. No big deal."

The poet could have throttled Nagisa for saying that. _Of course it was a big deal! _she would have shouted. _I'd just told you I love you and we were about to kiss! A very, _very _big deal!!!_

But the lights in the lobby were dimming on and off. The concert was about to start. Tamao turned away from Nagisa in disgust and stormed off ahead of them. Screw love. Screw Nagisa (she wished). Screw it all. If she wanted to see them as "no big deal," then alright. Let her. Shizuma could probably take care of her just fine anyway. Whatever. Tamao didn't need her.

Someone seized her by the arm and she found herself face to face with Nagisa.

"You're angry, I can see that. What's wrong?"

Tamao's hands trembled at her sides, her thoughts whirling uselessly in her head. "How could you---" She paused. "Nagisa---" Another pause. She brought her unsteady hands up to her head, which was throbbing painfully.

"Tamao-chan…?"

"'No big deal'?" She dropped her hands and glared. "Is _that _all I am to you? When I'm standing next to Shizuma, is that what I am? No big deal?"

Too many questions. Nagisa felt her head spin dizzily. She leaned her hand on the stairway banister, trying to steady herself.

"Do you even know what I'm talking about?"

"I'm afraid not," the redhead groaned.

"Figures. You're an idiot!"

Nagisa's eyes flashed angrily. "We can't _all _be straight-A honor roll eggheads, Tamao."

"I'm not asking you to be _smart. _I just want you to exercise some common sense." Hot tears stung Tamao's eyes. She tried not to blink lest they should fall. "It's not fair," she said miserably. "I took care of you while you were sick. I had homework to do, but _no. _I had to go and _worry _about you. _And for WHAT?_" SHE BARKED, CAUSING Nagisa to step back warily. "God _damn _it, Nagisa! I can't _pamper _you and receive _nothing _in return! I'm not your muh-mother…" There was no stopping the tears now. They came in abundance, spilling from her violet eyes, down her flushed cheeks. Heavy sobs racked her small frame. Her throat felt tight.

Nagisa reached for Tamao, to console her, but the poet turned and ran out of the auditorium. The redhead started to follow her, but was stopped by Shizuma.

"She needs to be alone now," the silver-haired girl said flatly.

Nagisa continued to stare helplessly at the door through which Tamao had run. She was torn.

Shizuma pulled her toward the stairs. "We should go in. The show's about to start."

---

"You want me to look like _what?_"

"Pragmatic," answered Chikaru patiently. She tapped her pencil lightly against the side of her head. "You know. Practical. Miserly. Greedy. The antonym for it is quixotic."

"I _know _what 'pragmatic' means!" Shion snapped. "I just don't understand what you're doing. Just yesterday you sketched Hikari looking 'conscientious' and Amane-sama looking 'sentimental.' What's the theme here?"

"Astrology." The Lulim President set down her art supplies and held up the book she had borrowed from the library. "I want to sketch everybody as the symbols of their sun signs. Hikari's birthday is August 29. That makes her a Virgo. The key trait of Virgo is conscientousness. And Amane's birthday is June 22. Cancer, the sign of emotions and intuition."

"That doesn't really sound like Amane-sama."

"Well, this is just for fun. You should only take astrology with a grain of salt."

The Spican President sighed and leaned against Chikaru's dorm window. She gazed out wearily on the courtyard. She had been trying to pose for her girlfriend for the past half hour and she was tired. Chikaru was, too. Shion could tell. It amazed her that even Chikaru --- probably the most patient person she knew --- was at wit's end.

"That's perfect! Hold it!" Chikaru excitedly grabbed her paper and pencil.

Shion looked at her oddly. "_This _is what pragmaticism looks like to you?"

"No. This is what Capricorn looks like to me." And having said that, the Lulim President opened her Bristol pad, and her imagination, and began to sketch.

---

Yaya stood alone in the auditorium lobby after the concert. Well, not completely alone. All around her the spectators were meeting with the performers, congratulating them on a good show, a job well done. Nagisa had immediately departed afterward to find Tamao. Shortly afterward, Shizuma followed. Yaya squinted, scanning the crowd for Hikari and Tsubomi.

"Behind you."

Yaya nearly jumped out of her skin. She quickly turned around. There stood Hikari and Tsubomi, the former smiling for it was her own voice which had just startled the raven-haired fourth grader.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, embracing them both. "Good job, guys!"

"Thanks," Hikari whispered, blushing at the praise.

"Did you hear me?" Tsubomi asked animatedly. "Did you hear the solo?"

"I sure did," Yaya responded brightly. She held the second grader's small shoulders. "You sounded _beautiful! _Absolutely stunning! And that one measure --- you hit it perfectly, a full, round fortissimo!"

Tsubomi felt like her _heart _was singing at a fortissimo dynamic. She seized Yaya's neck in her arms and hugged her mightily, squeezing the breath out of her, nuzzling her cheek fiercely. "Yaya-chan…"

At first Yaya was put off. Since when had Tsubomi become so affectionate? But she was Tsubomi, the girl Yaya liked. She reciprocated the hug, wrapping her arms around Tsubomi's waist. She closed her eyes, enjoying the moment, until she realized Hikari was still there. She pulled back and turned awkwardly toward the Étoile.

"When does student government announce the cast for _Gatsby_?"

"Tomorrow night," Hikari smiled. "Over supper." She tilted her head. "Why do you have a sweater?"

"Oh, that's right!" Yaya turned to Tsubomi. "You forgot this in my room." She held out the sweater.

The second year smiled. "You keep it, Yaya-chan. You might need it more than I do."

---

The buildings, shrubbery, and plants flew by Nagisa in an emerald blur as the redhead ran through Astraea Hill, seeking the poet. She had never seen Tamao so mad. She wasn't the type of person to acknowledge, let alone _confront,_ someone's problems. But she was human; she was allowed to feel angry.

Nagisa checked her watch. 6:11. Past curfew. Couldn't call Tamao's name lest she draw attention to herself and get caught breaking curfew.

There were two places the redhead had yet to check: the dorms and the forest. The dorms were out of the question because of curfew. That left the forest.

She warily approached the outskirts of the forest. She hated the woods at night. They scared her. _Tamao-chan had better be out there. I'm not about to get locked out of the dorms and walk around in that spooky forest for nothing._

Frogs croaked and crickets chirped in the darkened forest. Nagisa padded silently down the path, eyes bright with fear. Fireflies were coming out, decorating the woods with an endless string of flashing yellow lights. They lent a mystical quality to the normally oppressive forest.

Nagisa found Tamao at last. The poet was sitting in a clearing, absent-mindedly tossing skipping stones out on the lake.

"Tamao-chan…?"

The poet looked up, seemingly startled, and gazed over her shoulder at Nagisa. Tamao, with her school uniform, sitting alone by the lake with her skipping stones, and those sad opal-colored eyes, was a melancholic sight which made Nagisa think of a Belle & Sebastian song. Perhaps "We Rule the School" or "Mayfly" would best suit this sight.

The redhead sighed with relief. "I've been looking all over for you."

Tamao smiled slightly. "Really?"

Nagisa returned the smile and nodded.

The poet patted the grass next to her, indicating that Nagisa should join her. The redhead accepted the offer. She chuckled as she picked up a skipping stone.

"I remember these. Used to throw them out on lakes myself. Long time ago." She hurled the stone, watched it skip four times before finally sinking.

Tamao grinned. "I'll bet mine skips farther."

"Oh, yeah? What are you willing to bet?"

The poet tapped her chin pensively. She brightened. "Whoever loses does the winner's Japanese Studies homework for a week."

"You're going to have to lay down more than that. Japanese Studies is easy. It's just so long."

"Japanese Studies _and _French."

"Deal."

Tamao stood and gazed at the smooth surface of the lake, clutching the stone in her knuckles. She aligned her shoulders with the lake, peering at it sideways now. She squinted and her tongue slipped out of the side of her mouth. She raised a knee, did a softball hop-skip, and whipped her arm out, her wrist twisting as she loosed the stone, sending it skipping over the surface. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven!

"Dog gone it!" Nagisa exclaimed. "How did you _do _that?"

Tamao grinned as she sat back down. "I used to play softball when I was little. Did you know that?"

Nagisa shook her head dumbly.

"Well, I did. I was the pitcher, as you can see."

"Now I have to do _double _French homework," the redhead whined.

"Yep," Tamao laughed, patting her leg. "Have fun conjugating irregular verbs in the conditional tense!"

Nagisa let out another protesting moan and laid on her back. Then she remembered that she had not come out here to make longshot bets with the poet. She had come out for more a important reason.

"Tamao-chan, I need to talk to you about what you said earlier…"

The poet's smile faded and her face returned to that somber expression Nagisa had found her with.

"You were right."

Tamao looked up, then gazed at the redhead, amethyst eyes wide. She shook her head. "No. It wasn't right, what I said. I called you an idiot. I didn't mean it. I was frustrated, but that's no excuse. I'm sorry."

Nagisa lay her hand over Tamao's, both her tone and her expression earnest. "You had every right to feel frustrated with me. It's true that I've neglected to return every favor you've done for me. I owe you a lot. I owe you more than just my love." She sat up and took the poet's hands in both of hers. "But right now love is all I can give. I'm tired of worrying myself over Shizuma. I _was _an idiot, Tamao. An idiot for getting caught up over an old, useless love when I had a beautiful, sweet, intelligent girl…" She cupped Tamao's face in her hands. "…right here in front of me."

The poet's eyes swam in the silver moonlight. "Nagisa-chan…" she choked out.

Nagisa smiled, her own eyes welling up. She nodded upward, towards the sky. "Look at that."

Her breath shuddering, Tamao looked up and gasped. High in the sky, larger than she had ever seen it before, was the moon. It waxed full with a sapphire tint, bathing the entire forest in a bluish-silvery glow.

"It's a blue moon," Nagisa whispered. "Very rare. Almost as rare as true love itself. Tamao-chan…"

Tamao looked back at her. Nagisa adored how her opalescent eyes sparkled in the moonlight. It was almost magical. Dream-like. _What if I am dreaming? _The redhead smiled and thought, _Then I would do this…_

She moved one hand to the back of Tamao's head and pulled her closer. Tamao knew what to do this time. She brought her hands to Nagisa's arms, tilted her head, and, as easily as the right key turns the lock tumblers, so they kissed. It was such a kiss. Tamao found herself moaning at just the sheer delight of it. Nagisa was so soft. One kiss turned into two turned into several. It didn't seem like they had been kissing long when Tamao suddenly pulled back and looked around.

"Something wrong?" Nagisa murmured, cheeks flushed, gazing at the poet through half-closed eyes.

"I thought I heard something." She gave one last scan of the clearing and shrugged. "I must have imagined it." She turned back to Nagisa and they resumed kissing with a will.

---

Patent leather shoes pounding the ground, Shizuma darted through the woods toward the main campus. She stopped in the courtyard, gasping for breath, and leaned against a wall. She winced. The shoes she was wearing were not suitable for running.

She looked up, bitterly noting that damn blue moon in the sky. The constellation Aries (the sun sign Shizuma was born under) shone brightly.

"Don't fool yourself, Tamao," she smirked. "Nagisa is but a book. You have not bought her for yourself, but rather checked her out from the library. I've had that book on order --- she is _mine!_"


	5. The Great Cast of The Great Gatsby

**THE GREAT SHIZUMA**

**Chapter Five**

**The Great Cast of **_**The Great Gatsby**_

Setsuko, the Miator President, tapped her fork against her glass and all activity in the dining hall ceased. She stood with several copies of _The Great Gatsby _script.

"As you all know," said she, "we have the Strawberry Dorms Drama Festival coming up. The upperclassmen will be acting out F. Scott Fitzgerald's _The Great Gatsby._" Setsuko motioned for Hikari to stand, which the Étoile complied with.

"I, Konohana Hikari, Étoile cadette of Astraea Hill, have the honor of announcing our cast, decided on by Miator President Ewata Setsuko." She paused to sip some water from her glass. "Probably the most pressing thing on everybody's minds is what role the Étoile will play. Well, in the novel, the main character didn't have much of a romantic interest in anybody." She chuckled. "Okay, Tamao-chan. We get it. You don't like Amane and me together."

The poet laughed along with Hikari.

"But the closest thing to a romantic interest," she continued, "is the main character, Nick Carraway, to be played by the Étoile primary Ohtori Amane…" She paused until the applause died down. "…and Jordan Baker, to be played by myself." She bowed her head and blushed as the applause washed over her.

"This year's cast is a very special one as we have a guest to join it…"

Tamao dropped her spoon. What did Hikari mean by that?

"Playing the title role, Jay Gatsby, the enigmatic neighbor of Nick who is apparently involved in shady business deals… Our former Étoile, Hanazono Shizuma!"

Tamao's water went down the wrong way. She gagged and began to cough. Nagisa clapped the poet on the back, which didn't seem to help.

"Playing the role of Daisy Buchanan, Nick's cousin and the woman Gatsby falls hopelessly in love with… Aoi Nagisa!"

Having no real idea what exactly that role entailed, the redhead heartily accepted it. Meanwhile, a very pale Tamao was leaning dizzily on the table, her blood pressure leaping and bounding.

"Playing the role of Tom Buchanan, Daisy's husband, our scriptwriter and Miator's secretary, Suzumi Tamao!"

"We're married!" Nagisa cheered, but the poet didn't share her enthusiasm. She knew what it meant to play Tom Buchanan to Nagisa's Daisy.

"The role of Myrtle Wilson, Tom's mistress, will be played by… Kenjo Kaname!"

This was too much! Was Setsuko doing this on purpose? _Look at it this way, _Tamao thought bitterly. _At least I get to break her nose in one scene._

"Playing the role of George Wilson, Myrtle's husband who ends up killing Gatsby… President of Spica, Tomori Shion!"

The announcement earned her a cringe from Shion. _The last person I'd want to be married to. _Chikaru, sensing her girlfriend's distress, put her arm around her and whispered something in her ear, possibly trying to console her.

"Playing the role of Meyer Wolfsheim, Gatsby's business partner… Nanto Yaya!"

"Who the hell is Meyer Wolfsheim?" Yaya asked.

A sullen Tamao responded, "You're playing a Jewish man who wears suits with buttons made from human molars." The role of Wolfsheim entailed more than just that, of course, but the poet was too distraught to explain it all. She was disappointed. This was not the cast she had in mind for _Gatsby _at all!

The main parts had been announced. Hikari ran through the minor roles, bowed amid hearty applause, and took her seat. The scripts were all passed out.

"This sucks!" Yaya griped, flipping through her script. "I'm only in one scene!"

Tamao sighed and set aside her copy. She turned her attention back to her food, which tasted sour after the announcement of the cast.

---

That night's tea party was a bittersweet one. Nagisa, Yaya, and Hikari seemed to be in good spirits, laughing, drinking multiple cups of red tea, letting the banter flow smoothly from topic to topic --- finals, the upcoming trip to the beach, the festival. Meanwhile, Tamao, Chiyo, and Tsubomi sulked, hardly touching their tea. Not a word passed from any of them until Yaya finally asked, "So, what are the underclassmen doing for their play?"

Chiyo and Tsubomi answered simultaneously: "_Julius Caesar._"

"I love that play," Hikari smiled, "but it was so sad."

"It wasn't the one I wanted to do," Chiyo mumbled.

"Same here," said Tsubomi. "I really wanted to do _Hello Dolly!_"

"I wanted to do _Antigone._"

"The underclassmen aren't very well-read," Yaya commented. "Shakespeare is probably the only playwright they've heard of."

"I resent that," the pink-haired Spican snapped. "You can't speak for _all _the middle schoolers when Chiyo-chan and I wanted to do something different."

"But the fact that _Julius Caesar _won by majority vote is telling in of itself. That's Shakespeare for two years in a row now."

"Three," Tamao corrected. "Remember _Hamlet_? I was in my third year, you in your second."

"Oh, yeah. I got the lead role." A grin came slowly to Yaya's features. "I still faintly remember some of my lines… 'To be? Or _not _to be? _Sigh… That _is the question!… To die! To sleep! To sleep, perchance, to _dream! _Aye, _there's _the rub!'"

Hikari giggled at her best friend's antics, then asked, "What roles did you two get?"

"Cassius," Tsubomi groaned. "I'm a conspirator."

"Cinna the Poet," Chiyo responded. "I'm only in one scene and I get stoned to death in that scene."

"Hm, what role did Kagome-chan get?" Tamao asked.

A faint blush came to Chiyo's cheeks as she answered, "She didn't get any. Lulim's working crew and tech this year. Did they not tell you that?"

"I must not have been paying attention…"

"What are _you _complaining about, then?" Yaya asked Tsubomi. "You got the more important role!"

"I would've rather not been a conspirator."

"Ahh, suck it up."

Tsubomi brightened a little, a mischievous smirk on her face as she turned toward Tamao. "You knew Yaya-chan well in middle school?"

Tamao felt Nagisa's hand join with hers under the table. She smiled. "_Hai._"

"Tamao-chan was one of the first friends I made at Astraea Hill," Yaya added.

"What was she like?" Tsubomi asked. "In middle school, what was she like?"

Yaya could have kicked herself. _I walked right into that one._

"…Kind of annoying," Tamao answered after thinking it over for a moment. "She talked constantly, and everything had to be such a freaking big deal."

"I wasn't _that _bad."

"Yaya-chan, yes you were. If I had to hear 'OMG' one more time…"

"Wow," Tsubomi laughed. "Can you spell 'hypocrite,' Yaya-chan?"

The raven-haired fourth grader's face was so hot with embarrassment, one's hand could have sizzled upon it. She spluttered, "You… You suck, Tamao-chan, surprising nobody!"

Tamao winked at her. "That's 'Tamao-senpai' to you, Yaya-kohai."

Tsubomi laughed so hard, her stomach hurt.

---

The days turned. July was looming ever so closer. For the girls at Strawberry Dorms, July meant the annual trip to the beach. But first came the Drama Festival, which was actually tomorrow!

Tamao and Nagisa rehearsed their lines together. Since there were very few scenes in _The Great Gatsby _where Tom and Daisy interacted with one another directly, one of the girls would have to assume the role of another character. Though still crestfallen, Tamao had to admit that Setsuko had done well in casting the redhead as Daisy. When reciting her lines, Nagisa pitched her voice up to make it sound more naïve and air-headed. Such a character was Daisy Buchanan.

Now they stood in their forest clearing, by the lake, in broad daylight. Cicadas rasped and the sun's harsh light played off the lake's shimmering surface. Tamao held both their scripts to ensure that Nagisa would not rely too heavily on hers. It was important that the redhead knew her lines. The poet was assuming the role of Jordan Baker.

"_I'm stiff_," Tamao recited in an exaggerated --- but not cheesy--- moan. "_I've been lying on that sofa for as long as I can remember!_"

"_Don't look at me_," Nagisa responded in an indignant squeak. The poet bit her lip and shook with silent laughter. "_I've been trying to get you to . . . to . . ._" She paused and her voice returned to normal. "Crap, what was that place again? New Guinea?"

Bubbly laughter erupted from Tamao. The poet held the scripts against her tummy and sat down, giggling helplessly. Nagisa distantly recalled how Shizuma laughed at her performance as Carmen last year. She glared, cheeks hot.

"Why does everyone think my acting is so damn funny?"

"Eheheh! _Gomen n-nasia, _Nagisa-chan. It's your voice! It's hilarious!"

"Should … I just use my normal voice?"

"No! Don't!" Tamao gasped as the redhead sat down next to her. "It's perfect, actually. A ditz like Daisy Buchanan needs a munchkin voice like that. …And the place is New York."

"New York," Nagisa repeated, making a mental note to remember that place.

"Whew! I don't think I've ever laughed so hard," Tamao sighed, pulling her girl close to her. "You've been working hard, I can tell. Let's take a break, have some lunch."

Nagisa rolled out the blanket and Tamao emptied the contents of their picnic basket onto the blanket. It was a simple lunch: coldcut sandwiches, carrots, grapes, lemonade, and cookies for dessert.

"I've been wondering, Tamao-chan…" Nagisa paused to sip some lemonade. "I mean, that night at the lake… I'm always thinking about it, you know?"

"I know," Tamao nodded, her violet eyes swimming dreamily. "I think about it a lot, too."

Nagisa smiled and blushed. "I remember how you told me that you used to play softball, and I remember thinking: _I didn't know that. There's actually a lot I don't know about her life. _But I want to know. Please, Tamao-chan, tell me about yourself."

"Okay. What do you want to know?"

"Um… Tell me about softball." That seemed like a good place to start. They could branch out from there.

Tamao hummed a bit and got a faraway look in her eyes. "At first, I was very resistant to it. My parents signed me up for it. They were worried that I was becoming too reclusive --- hiding away in my room with my nose in a book. They wanted me to get out, contribute to the community, meet people, make friends…" She trailed off and zoned out for a moment. Nagisa was about to say something when Tamao started up again.

"I never saw myself as a sporty girl --- I still don't. I knew from when I first started school that I was…" She tapped the side of her head. "…a thinker. But I was good at softball. Very good. Only an excellent player could ascend the ladder from watergirl to pitcher in less than a year. I was six when I started; I was seven when I was made pitcher of the Panthers." She smiled. "It's rare that you get a pitcher who's good with the bat, too. The legacy of pitchers is thus: superb throwers and catchers, lousy batters. There are some exceptions. I was one such exception."

Tamao lowered her gaze and blushed. "I'm probably boring you, right?"

"No." Nagisa shook her head. "I'm really interested. What happened with softball? Did you quit?"

"_Hai._ I had no choice but to. I had transcended from St. Olaf Primary to St. Miator Academy. I moved from my hometown to Astraea Hill." She shook her head ruefully. "Too bad. I had the makings of a coach for the team. So I was told."

"Really?"

"Really." The poet smiled and looked up. "Did my Nagisa-chan take part in sports?"

"Ice skating."

"Ice skating?"

The redhead nodded. "Everybody in my family ice skates. My sister and I figure skated, and my brother played hockey."

"Figure skating…" Tamao's eyes sparkled with adoration as she imagined her cute little redhead in those tippy-toe skates, clad in her glittering outfit. It was almost too much to bear and the poet giggled.

Nagisa's face reddened. "It is pretty embarrassing, especially since I was so terrible at it." That ruined Tamao's fantasies. "I was clumsy on skates and I hurt myself a lot. Back injuries," she recalled, tenderly rubbing her back at the memories. "Five slipped discs, and I bruised my tailbone once. Had to carry around an orthopedic donut to sit on. Very mortifying."

"Do you still do it?"

"No. I quit after I transferred to Miator."

Tamao turned her warm gaze out toward the lake. "We should go skating when winter rolls around. I'd love to see you figure skate."

"Eh? Well, it's been awhile." Nagisa also stared at the lake. "Heh. Hopefully figure skating will be like riding a bike." She looked back at Tamao. "Tell me more. You've had a very interesting life."

Tamao thought for a moment, chewing her sandwich. After she swallowed, she said, "Softball aside, there's not a lot to tell… Did you know I used to be in marching band?"

This was a shock. Nagisa blinked. "Astraea Hill has a marching band?"

"One from each school."

"Well, how about that," Nagisa nodded. "What did you play?"

"Clarinet. And I wasn't the only one of our circle who was in band. Yaya-chan played trombone for Spica Band. Chikaru, too, played trombone for Lulim. Shion used to play flute. Miyuki was on clarinet. Kaname played French horn."

"All those people?"

"Yep. You were friends with a bunch of ex-band geeks and you didn't even know it." Tamao grinned.

"So why did you all quit?" the redhead inquired.

"I can't speak for all of us, but I quit because club activities conflicted. Kaname quit, I think, because her father couldn't pay for her uniform fees."

"For the life of me, I cannot see her playing the French horn."

"I can. French hornists are weird!" Tamao ate a cookie and asked, "Do you know how to play any instruments?"

Nagisa hesitated. Oh, dear. Tamao was _not _going to like this. "_She _taught me how to play piano."

Tamao squinted. She? Who was that? _Oh yeah, _she thought sourly, a glare spoiling her features. Then she stood and helped her girl up. "Then I should teach you something as well."

"You don't have to ---"

"I know what I'll teach you!" The poet turned to Nagisa excitedly, laying her hands on her shoulders. "Wait right here!" She kissed her and turned and ran toward the dorms.


	6. Tamao v Shizuma

**THE GREAT SHIZUMA**

**Chapter Six**

**Tamao v. Shizuma**

It took Tamao three minutes to run from the lake to the dorms, another athletic asset due to her childhood spent playing softball. She knew she was fast. Her coach didn't give her nicknames like Suzumi Fleetfoot or Quicksilver Tamao for naught.

The poet burst into her room to find Shizuma reclining on the bed Tamao and Nagisa now shared. She was buffing her nails.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Tamao demanded.

"Hello to you, too."

She shook her head and snatched the buffer from Shizuma's hands. "Out."

"Huh?" The silver-haired girl looked up at her.

Tamao pointed the buffer at the door. "Out."

Shizuma sat up on the edge of the bed. "But Tamao, you haven't given me a chance to apologize."

The poet scowled. "Oh, is _that _why you're here?" She sighed and turned away, toward the full-length mirror. She pulled out her hairnet and proceeded to brush her cerulean hair. Shizuma remained silent. "I'm listening," Tamao said curtly.

"Let me start by saying this --- I came here with the intent to propose."

Tamao dropped her brush.

"Yes, 'propose' as in 'marry,'" Shizuma smirked. She pulled the ring case out of her dress pocket. "Tell me, Tamao, how well off _is _your family?"

Up until now, the poet had always believed that her family fit within the parameters of rich. One contributing factor was that Tamao had no siblings. Her parents had not intended for her to be an only child, but that was how it turned out.

"I'll assume by your silence that you're as poor as a church mouse."

Tamao fumed.

"This ring…" Shizuma popped open the case and held up the object in question. "…cost me billions of yen, as did this case. And you know what? The resulting price was far from expensive for me. I almost feel like I'm skimping out on Nagisa," she sighed, "but alas! It was the most valuable one at the jewelers."

"Just because it's pricier doesn't mean it's more valuable!" Tamao was pulling her hair up into a ponytail. "How do you know Nagisa would even like it?"

"Would you like to see it?"

Shizuma passed the ring to her. The poet studied it. The ring was a gold band with an emerald gemstone.

"Nagisa would hate this," Tamao concluded, handing it back. "And you'd be wasting your time, money, and breath proposing. She doesn't love you."

"She would _love _this. Yellow metal looks so good on her."

"But she doesn't love _you._" Tamao dug through her closet, emerging with a softball, two gloves, and a cap.

Shizuma didn't smile, but squinted in amusement. "And you think she loves _you?_"

"I know she loves me," Tamao said flatly, fitting a glove on her left hand.

"How do you know? Has she said it? Has she said 'I love you, Tamao'?"

"She doesn't have to."

"I've seen you with her. She kisses you, she hugs you, she holds your hand…"

"You're only proving my point."

"That's not love. Those are hollow gestures. Those are just kissing, hugging, and holding hands, and nothing more." Shizuma was no longer concealing her smirk. It showed up full on her face. "Of course you have it confused. You are nothing but a little idiot who thinks attention equals eternal love."

Tamao put on her cap, pulling the brim over her baleful violet eyes. She turned on the silver-haired girl.

"I don't know who you think you are… or who you think you're talking to… but I am _this _close to kicking your ass right back to Ninnian, _Shizuma. _So you better watch it."

The poet was standing over Shizuma now, jaw rigid, eyes blazing, her breath blasting from her nostrils. Nothing daunted, the silver-haired girl stared back up at her.

"It's divine, isn't it?" Shizuma said at last. "The roles we were assigned for _The Great Gatsby. _Daisy really loves Gatsby. You read the book. You know that Daisy would jump at the first opportunity to run away with him and leave poor, sad little Tom behind. You know that, right, Tommy?"

Tamao meant for the heel of her hand to hit Shizuma's nose, but so blind with rage was the poet that she missed and caught her chin. The force of the blow sent Shizuma sprawling on the bed with Tamao on top of her. Tamao trembled as she dug her nails into her enemy's face.

"You don't call me 'Tommy,' got that?" she hissed.

"Oh, right. I call you 'old sport.' Or would you prefer 'the polo player'?" Shizuma seized her wrist. "I say, old sport, mind taking your nails out of my face? It hurts."

Tamao did not say anything, but flexed her hand, gouging her fingernails deeper. Shizuma winced and all the deceptive ambience in her temperament drained from her.

"Maybe you didn't hear me," she snarled, squeezing the poet's wrist. "I said 'take them _out_,' you scum sucking, rug munching --- AAAAARRRRRRRGGGHH!" she yelled in pain. She had tried to pry out Tamao's nails, but only succeeded in dragging them through her face. Hot sticky blood drizzled from her cheek and stained Tamao's hand.

Admittedly Tamao had a weakness for blood. The very sight of it made her nauseous. Her grip faltered and she allowed Shizuma to pull her bloody hand from her bloodier face.

"This is what you like, huh?" the silver-haired girl growled. "This is what gets you hot? Well… It would be prudish of me to not return the hotness, so…"

Several things happened at once. Shizuma managed to hook a punch at Tamao's jaw and bring her knee up sharply into her gut. With a cry, the poet fell off of Shizuma and onto the floor where she lay doubled over and sobbing. Stealing a shirt to staunch the flow of blood, the silver-haired girl jumped up and ran out of the room.

---

Nagisa was beginning to wonder and worry about Tamao. The poet had been gone for half an hour. The idea that perhaps she had ditched Nagisa was quickly dismissed. Tamao didn't roll like that.

_I should teach you something as well. _The redhead didn't know why Tamao felt like she had to do everything Shizuma did. They were two different people and so her relationships with them had to be different as well. And besides, Nagisa _was _learning from Tamao. In the course of their year as best friends, she had learned to be more patient, to look first before jumping into a situation, to begin with the end in mind, and, of course… eat your dessert _slowly, _Nagisa-chan, you'll enjoy it more. The redhead laughed out loud.

_Does Tamao-chan think she's my second choice? _That hit Nagisa like a ton of lead and she stopped laughing. _How horrible. Tamao knows she would never rank below first in my heart. She knows I love her. Right?_

_I have to find her and talk to her, _Nagisa decided and stood. She packed away the scraps from their lunch, rolled up the blanket, and picked up the basket. She started to go when she heard a rustle in the foliage behind her. She halted.

"Tamao-chan…?" She slowly turned around.

"No, not Tamao…" came that silken voice, and Shizuma materialized from the brambles out into the clearing.

"Shizuma!" Nagisa gasped, unable to tear her gaze from the angry scab on her right cheek, from her bruised jaw and swollen lip.

"Aren't I the pretty one?" Shizuma grinned lopsidedly.

"What happened?" The redhead was so shocked, she dropped the picnic basket.

"Had a run-in with an old classmate." The silver-haired girl shrugged. "I'll be fine. It's not as bad as it looks."

"Who was this old classmate?"

"Not important." Shizuma stuck her hand in the pocket of her dress, felt the ring case. "Look. I need to do this, and I need to do this quickly before that classmate finds me."

"A-alright…"

"Alright. Nagi---"

"Nagisa-oneesama!"

The redhead whirled around to see little Chiyo crashing through the woods with wee Kagome in her wake. They were obviously in a major hurry to seek their oneesama, and it was evident by Chiyo's fatigue that they had been searching for a while. Kagome used her free arm (as her other one was clutching Pashibaru) to steady the Miator second year as she leaned her hands heavily on her knees, gasping for breath.

"Nagisa-oneesama… I-it's… Oh, God…" Chiyo sank to her knees, her hand on her heaving chest, her face screwed up in agony.

Kagome put her hand on Chiyo's shoulder. "It's okay," she whispered. "Take a moment and breathe."

_Just don't take too long, _Nagisa thought, her anxiety mounting by the second. Something was wrong, she could tell by the look on Kagome's face.

After a few seconds, Chiyo's breath had regulated and she could look up at her oneesama without hurting her throat. She gasped when she saw Shizuma. Kagome, too, had noticed the former Étoile's injuries, but had limited her reaction to a more subtle arcing of an eyebrow.

"What's wrong?" Nagisa asked.

"Tamao-oneesama is hurt!" Chiyo cried.

"_What?!_"

Kagome explained, "Her jaw is bruised, as is her tummy."

"Do you think her spleen is really ruptured like she said?" Chiyo asked.

The Lulim second grader shook her head, her soft broft curls bouncing. "I doubt it. She's pretty badly bruised, though."

"What happened?" Nagisa shook her head. "Never mind. Just take me to her, please." She felt sick. Her head was spinning. Bruised jaw. Ruptured spleen. The images made her stomach turn.

"Sorry, Shizuma," Nagisa muttered as Chiyo took her hand and led her toward the dorms, "but this will have to wait!"

Shizuma watched her go until she and her kohais disappeared into the foliage. It unnerved her how the little one with the bear stared at her. She pulled the case out of her pocket, popped it open, and stared at the ring. The poet's cold words echoed in her head: _You'd be wasting your time, money, and breath proposing. _Was she right?

---

Nagisa had a hard time keeping up as Chiyo ran at a breakneck pace to Strawberry Dorms, pulling her oneesama behind her. The blue-haired librarian noticed Kagome lagging far behind, her hand cupped around her chin, her sleepy green eyes turned toward the ground.

Chiyo screeched to a halt with Nagisa crashing into her from behind. The younger girl turned to face her oneesama. "She's in your dorm. You know where to go. Keep going, I'll meet up with you." Nagisa ran off ahead of her, and Chiyo circled back to where Kagome was.

"What's wrong, Kagome-chan? You look… thoughtful."

"Tamao-oneesama wouldn't tell us how she got hurt."

"That's because she was too busy crying about her 'ruptured spleen.'"

Kagome paused. Then she whispered, "Pashibaru thinks Tamao-oneesama and Shizuma-sama got into a fight."

"A fight?" Chiyo couldn't help laughing. "Is Pashibaru sure?"

Kagome turned her emerald eyes up toward Chiyo. "Does Chiyo-chan think it's mere coincidence that the two of them turn up with injuries at the same time?"

"A good point you make, my friend," Chiyo nodded. "Those scratches on Shizuma-sama's face were no accident. Let's go, let's hurry."

She and little Kagome ran off toward the dorms.

---

Nagisa was shocked at how many people had cramped into the little dorm to see Tamao. There was Shion and Chikaru --- the former running her hands through her blonde hair, the latter worriedly rubbing her pencil eraser against her neck. Remon and Kizuna, trying to tend to Tamao's bruises. Yaya and Tsubomi bickering. Amane with her arm around Hikari, the two of them monitoring the Lulim students' healing efforts.

Nagisa tried to push her way through the crowd to her Tamao. It was difficult in the compact room, and the summer certainly didn't help matters much. The redhead found her fuse running very short very fast.

"This won't do," said Shion. "The festival is _tomorrow! _We need Tom Buchanan."

"If she can't make it tomorrow, I could fill her part if you want," Chikaru offered.

"I suppose…"

Nagisa managed to reach the bed Tamao lay upon. Her heart broke at the sight of her. The poet lay on her side, curled up in a fetal position. Her left cheek was swollen and reddish-purple. Her eyes were shut tight.

Nagisa grabbed her hand. "Tamao-chan?"

Tamao's eyes snapped open. She turned her head upwards to look at the redhead.

"Are you okay?" Nagisa asked. "Do… Do you need anything?"

The poet stared at her for a moment, her opalescent eyes swimming. Then she closed them in annoyance and muttered, "Make all these people leave, please."

Nagisa stood a moment, listening to the flurry of voices. One big competition --- each girl trying to make herself be heard. It was giving her a headache. And to think Tamao had to deal with this on top of her injuries. Nodding resolutely, Nagisa placed a hand on Kizuna and Remon, guiding them towards the door, yelling, "Okay! Everybody out now! Show's over!"

"It sure is," Shion moaned, "if we don't have a Tom Buchanan…"

Amane and Hikari immediately left, as did Yaya and Tsubomi as soon as their dispute was settled. The only one who wasn't so willing to leave was Shion.

"Come on, sweetness," said Chikaru, pulling her girl toward the exit. "We've stayed long enough."

"But I have to make sure she'll be okay!" Shion protested. "It's not _The Great Gatsby _without Tom Buchanan!"

"I said I'd fill in the role if Tamao-chan can't make it. Now, Shion-chan, if you don't come with me, there'll be no sex tonight."

Tamao grinned. "Does that line really work?"

"It depends on the circumstances," Chikaru giggled, blushing slightly, "but for the most part it does. Hope you feel better, Tamao-chan!" And they left.

Nagisa shut the door behind them and, sighing, leaned against it.

"You know," mumbled Tamao, "you're the first person to ask if I was okay out of concern for _me, _not the play." She pitched her voice up in imitation of the others. "'Tamao-chan,'" she whined, "'get well soon because we need Tom Buchanan for the play.'" She scowled. "Go find him, then, bitches, because my name is Suzumi Tamao. Not Tom, not Tommy, and _certainly _not old sport!"

Nagisa pulled a chair up to her bedside and sat in it. She stroked the poet's head. "It pains me greatly to see you like this. Chiyo-chan said your spleen is ruptured."

Tamao shook her head. "I panicked. My stomach got hit really hard, and it hurt, and I was scared. Now, realistically speaking, I think I'll be okay. It's just a bruise, no real harm done."

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "Who did this not-so-real harm?"

The poet's face darkened.

"Shizuma…?" Nagisa asked.

Tamao nodded. Nagisa sighed, sat up in her chair, and pushed her bangs out of her eyes. Her auburn eyebrows now slanted low over her garnet eyes that she had turned upward toward the ceiling. Her hand balled into a fist that was so tight, her knuckles had turned white.

"I'm sorry, Nagisa-chan," Tamao apologized. "It's my fault. I started it when I punched her in the face. But she was saying all these terrible things about me, about us---"

"Then you didn't start it. She did. Why would she do that?"

"She wants to get back together with you."

Nagisa grunted and folded her arms across her chest. "Humph! Fat chance! I wouldn't take her back for a billion yen!"

Hearing that combined with remembering what Shizuma said about the price of her engagement ring made Tamao laugh heartily. Helpless giggles racked her frame until she winced. "Aaaooww, it hurts to laugh!"

Bemused as to why the poet was laughing, Nagisa inquired, "How bad _is _the bruise? May I see it?"

Hesitantly, Tamao straightened her torso and rolled onto her back. She couldn't help but feel the warming sensations of arousal as Nagisa pulled her T shirt up just high enough to expose her midriff. The redhead gasped and Tamao herself drew in a sharp breath at the sight of the swollen bluish-red bruise on her tummy, just above her belly button.

"Jesus, Tamao-chan," Nagisa whispered. _Sorry, Jesus, _she added reflexively. "What did you do to make her so mad?"

"Just put my nails in her face, that's all," the poet said innocently.

Nagisa recalled the scabs on Shizuma's face and grimaced. "You put those scratches on her face?"

"Mm-hmm."

The redhead hissed painfully just thinking about the scabs. "Yeesh. Remind me to never make you angry."

"You already did once, and it wasn't so bad, was it?"

"No, it wasn't," Nagisa smiled, recalling the night at the lake. Tamao's violet eyes glittering in the light of the blue moon, her arms around her, the poet's face pressed full into hers as they kissed for the first time. "In the end it wasn't bad at all."

She looked back at the bruise and winced. "That's rough. Do you want me to kiss it to make it better?"

Tamao's hand twitched. "I-if you want to…"

The poet laid her head back on the pillow, half-closed eyes focused on the ceiling. She shuddered as she felt Nagisa's soft lips brush gently on her tummy. She saw the redhead hesitate over her, unsure of whether to keep going. Her scarlet eyes were filled with such heat, such intensity, and at that moment Tamao knew how badly she wanted this.

"Don't stop," the poet whispered. She closed her eyes and sighed pleasantly as the redhead complied, hesitantly at first, but then with more gusto. Nagisa brought her hands to Tamao's waist and led her trail of kisses upwards until her mouth came in contact with that of the poet.

Tamao never gave much thought to how her first time would go, and she certainly never thought that it would come along in the wake of a beat down.

Nagisa was sitting upon Tamao, supporting her weight lest she should disturb the bruises. She eventually lowered herself full onto the poet's body, laying on top of her. Nagisa slid her hands up Tamao's arms until she was pressing their palms together. Tamao found the palm stimulation oddly titillating as jolts of erotic sensation shot through her arms to her chest. She began to buck toward her girl in need. The pain from the bruises quickly melted away as Nagisa pinned Tamao's hands over her head and attacked her mouth with passionate, full kisses, slipping her tongue in. The poet whimpered as the sensations that had built up in her chest plummeted within her, taking her stomach with it.

_She kisses you, she hugs you, she holds your hand. That's not love._

Tamao froze.

_Has she said, "I love you, Tamao?"_

Any warm sensations she had within her cooled over almost instantly.

_You are nothing but a little idiot who thinks attention equals eternal love._

"Mm, what's wrong, Tamao-chan?" Nagisa panted as she pulled back.

The poet's eyes, which sparkled romantically not a minute ago, were now dim with distraction. She looked back at Nagisa and the warmth left them. She slipped out from under the redhead and rolled onto her side.

"_Gomen nasai. _I guess… Maybe I'm just not ready."

Feeling slightly embarrassed, fearing that maybe she had been a bit too forward, Nagisa offered up a smile. "It's okay. You don't have to do it now if you don't want to."

---

Nagisa had never had so many people fuss over her appearance at the same time. Lulim crew members clustered around her, making sure of several things. Did her hair look okay? Did her costume fit? Did a certain application of makeup do her role justice? The show was going to start in less than two hours.

And where in the world was Tamao?

The redhead had woken up that morning to find the poet's bed empty. She had not seen Tamao all day and was seriously starting to worry. Was Tamao sick or something? Was she in the infirmary? Nagisa's apprehension passed through the threshold of panic when she considered the very real possibility that the poet's spleen _had _ruptured and was now starting to overtake her.

Or Tamao had no intention of showing up, period. _She seemed pretty angry at everyone about the play, _Nagisa thought as the hair stylist tried to put her auburn locks up in a bun. _Maybe she just decided, f- them, and ditched the play to spite them. That would be really rotten, though, too rotten for sweet little Tamao-chan to do._

"Chikaru-san!" the hair stylist, a spunky Lulim fourth year with pixie-short brown hair, called. "How does _this _look? Is _this _Daisy?" She roughlu hauled Nagisa onto her feet and brought her over to the Lulim President.

Chikaru studied the redhead, pacing circles around her to get the full view. She finally shook her head. "This won't do. Daisy Buchanan is a woman of class, but she's not an elitist snob like you've made Nagisa-chan to look. Lose the bun."

The hair stylist huffed and pulled the hairnet out.

Just a couple mirrors down, Shizuma was getting her hair styled as well. She said, "Chikaru-chan, don't you think it should be up to the script writer to decide how the characters should look?"

"That's the problem," Shion said with venom in her voice. "Our script writer isn't _here._" She glowered at Nagisa as if it was her fault Tamao had not shown up.

Chikaru sighed and checked her watch. "If she's not here in five minutes, I'll go in for hair and makeup and play Tom Buchanan."

Now Shion was going on a rant over Shizuma. "What the hell happened to your face?" she demanded.

Shizuma ran her fingers along her scratches. "I got in an awesome fight."

"Did you win?" asked the spunky Lulim hair stylist.

"Uhh... We'll call it a draw."

Nagisa found herself staring at the scratches. Today they seemed sorer, angrier, and seemed to have swollen to cover more of Shizuma's face. "They're not healing right," she said at last.

Shizuma noticed her and smirked. "No, they're not," she said ruefully.

"That's... Ah, that's impetigo," the hair stylist diagnosed.

"What?"

"When a cut becomes mildly infected. My sister gets that quite a bit in the winter. It's highly contagious --- you should avoid touching those scratches so you don't spread it."

Shion grimaced at Shizuma in disgust. "Maybe you should wash your hands," she said and stalked off.

Chikaru checked her watch again. She sighed and sat in front of the mirror labeled _Tom Buchanan. _"I guess I'll be playing---"

"Wait!!"

Everyone present turned _en masse _toward the backstage entrance. Nagisa gasped delightedly for there, in the doorway, stood Tamao. The poet was clad in her costume (a simple black suit, blue tie, and men's dress shoes), her chest heaving with every exhausted breath she gasped. She dropped her arms and hastily approached the mirror. Chikaru jumped up and proceeded to style Tamao's hair in accordance to her role.

"Tamao-chan..." Nagisa sighed with relief and held out her hand to the poet.

She took the redhead's hand, squeezed it, and smiled weakly.

"Where _were _you?" Nagisa was a bit put off by the sorrow swimming in her amethyst eyes.

Tamao couldn't shake her head, so instead she closed her eyes. "Around. Had to sort some stuff out. I'm here."

"So, Suzumi-san," Shion snarled as she entered the powder room, hands on her hips. "You finally decided to show up."

"Had to sort some stuff out..."

"Well, hopefully it was worth being an hour late for. Okay, Shizuma, these scratches won't do. Gatsby's face isn't scratched." Shion held up a container of silver-colored stick-on hair. "So his face will have to go bearded to hide that impetigo. Have the makeup artist slap this on your pretty little mug." And she tossed the container to Shizuma, as if she wasn't worth the reach.

"Same for you, scriptwriter," Shion growled, turning back on Tamao. "I don't know where Tom got that handsome bruise, but it won't do. Chikaru-chan, when you do her makeup, put on some five o'clock shadow."

"Yes, ma'am."

Shion, who was going to play George Wilson, had her blond hair done up in the severest bun. She had her bangs loose and styled in such a way to make her look more masculine. She wore glasses, an oily white shirt and even oilier blue overalls (she fixed cars, after all). Her pessimistic attitude toward the show only made her a better person to play a man whom Nick described in the novel as being "spiritless" and "anemic."

"Here we go!" the Lulim hair stylist cried. "Tell me what you think of _this, _Chikaru-san!" She brought Nagisa up to the Lulim President.

The hair stylist had curled Nagisa's hair into springy coils, much like Kagome's, that bounced with every movement the redhead made. The finishing touch was the flower pinned on the right side of her head.

"I like it," Chikaru said slowly, her hand cupped around her chin. "What do _you _think, Tamao-chan?"

If Tamao wasn't so preoccupied, she would have squealed, "So cute! My Nagisa never fails to look adorable!" But yesterday's events cast a shadow over her normally happy mood, so she merely smiled, nodded, said, "You look lovely."

But Nagisa certainly did look squeal-worthy. Her costume was of simple make: a yellow dress that was fitted at the top and loose and flowy at the bottom. The color of the flower petals matched that of the dress.

When hair and makeup was done, Tamao's hair was done similarily to Shion's. Chikaru stuck some fake blue fuzz on the poet's cheeks, next to her ears, to give her sideburns. She had also added the azure five o'clock shadow, as asked, and thickened Tamao's eyebrows. Tamao was Tom Buchanan.

And Shizuma was Jay Gatsby. Her long silver hair had been packed away in a hat that she would wear throughout most of the play. She wore a beige suit, a green tie, and spats on her black shoes. A subtle silver beard graced her face and her prop was a pipe.

"I daresay, old sport," she muttered as she pretended to puff her pipe. "I do feel a wee bit ridiculous."

Shizuma was about to recant that statement for Yaya came stumbling in. The Spican was garbed in a loose-fitting black suit with exaggeratingly huge cuff links. Her eyebrows had been thickened to nearly thrice their original size. Her hair had been pulled up, shoved in a yarmulke, but her front strands had been left out and curled. A huge fake beard covered her face. She wore small round glasses.

Everything was silent and still for a moment. Yaya started to complain about what a horrible fit the suit was when everyone present broke into raucous laughter. The Lulim hair stylist leaned against Chikaru helplessly. Tamao and Nagisa hugged each other in their fit of giggles. Shizuma's pipe slipped out of her mouth as she held her sides. Yaya stood there, blinking owlishly, looking confused.

The laughter eventually subsided, but resumed when Amane and Hikari entered the room and saw Yaya.

"Oh my God, Yaya-chan," Hikari squeaked, putting a gloved hand to her mouth in an attempt to conceal laughter.

Amane's reaction was even funnier. The mouth of the normally brusque tomboy twitched. One could tell she was suppressing a smile and the resulting expression on her face was priceless. She finally put a hand to her tummy and doubled over with laughter. No one had ever seen Amane laugh so much. It loosened up the tension and everybody was feeling more chipper.

Yaya caught Hikari snapping a picture of her on her cell phone.

"Oh, no," she moaned. "Please don't send that to everybody! I'll be the laughing stock of Spica!"

Hikari pressed some buttons on her phone. "I'm not sending this to _everybody._" She grinned. "Just Tsubomi-chan."

"No! Not her! Hika---"

"Too late." She snapped her phone shut.

Tamao approached Yaya, shaking her head. "Whoever did your makeup should be shot. You look like a caricature of every Jewish stereotype I have ever heard of."

"I know." Yaya grinned sheepishly, awkwardly kicking at the floor. "I'm a walking cliche."

Chikaru guided her to a mirror. "Let me re-do your makeup."

"Get rid of the beard," the poet ordered. "She's a business associate, not a rabbi!"

Hikari's cell phone rang and Yaya knew who it was. She could hear Tsubomi's laughter over the phone.

"Jeez, Hikari-sama..." the Spican fourth grader moaned. _Since when does _she _tease _me?

The cadette turned to Yaya and said, "Tsubomi says she loves you, but she refuses to convert!"

---

The play was about to start. The first scene, as Tamao had written it, was to consist of Nick riding his boat through the Sound to the coast of East Egg to meet up with Tom and Daisy. The Buchanans would make their entrance first, chatting as married couples do, while they wait for Nick's arrival.

"You didn't write any specific lines for Tom and Daisy's small talk," Nagisa noted as she and Tamao stood before the stage entrance.

The poet shook her head. "It doesn't matter what we say until Amane-sama makes her entrance."

The redhead rubbed her chin. "Hmm. I wonder what Americans talked about in the 1920's?"

Tamao shrugged. "I dunno. Speakeasies. Al Capone. Prohibition."

They noticed that the audience had fallen silent outside. Chikaru and Shion came up behind them.

"This is it, guys!" the Lulim President whispered encouragingly. "Break a leg!"

"Not literally, of course," added Shion, giving the poet a meaningful look.

Chikaru counted in their entrance from five. At one, Tamao Buchanan led her fair Daisy out onto the stage.


	7. The Great Shizuma

**THE GREAT SHIZUMA**

**Chapter Seven**

**The Great Shizuma**

"_Fair Brutus,_" cried Tsubomi. "_Wherefore thee shan't be Emperor of Rome? Thy name dost ring truer!_"

Brutus, who was being played by a shy, kittenish first year from Spica, blinked her wide blue eyes at her senpai. Both girls wore the common folk's white robes, brown girdle cords, and sandals. The middle school auditorium was freezing. The two Spicans shivered, but tried not to stutter their lines, so hard were they shivering.

Backstage, Remon was gagging at their horrid acting. "When I told them they could adlib their lines if they forgot them, I didn't know they'd adlib the _whole thing!_" She leaned her head against the wall. "My career as a director comes to an end!"

"You don't seriously want to go into directing, Remon-chan?" The green-haired Lulim student looked up and saw her girlfriend of God knows how many years, Hyuuga Kizuna.

"Well, no," Remon muttered, blushing as Kizuna leaned nonchalantly against the wall beside her. "But… I thought I was doing a good job conducting this whole jamboree. I thought my cast was more reliable than this."

"You gave most of the roles to girls from Spica, right?"

"_Hai. _They make up the majority of Astraea Hill's student body. Excellent students, poor actresses."

The girl playing Brutus just flubbed one of her lines. Remon took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes, which were starting to hurt.

"Fortunately, they'll be working stage crew next year," Kizuna sighed. She inched closer to Remon and put her arm around her. "Hey. Y'know? You look pretty good without glasses."

Remon's eyes flashed up toward Kizuna, her cheeks pinkening. "Really? Should I get contacts?"

"I suppose. If you want. I love you either way." Using her free hand, Kizuna pulled Remon's head closer and kissed her on the cheek. "Hey," she whispered in her ear, "you know what I want to do when this is done?"

The green-haired girl stiffened. She and Kizuna had been together a very long time, but they had never gone farther than kissing. There was one occasion where Remon had been daring enough to slip Kizuna the tongue. They had kissed like that for three seconds until both girls jumped back, feeling stupid and embarrassed. Now the question arose in Remon's mind: _Am I ready to do this?_

Kizuna laughed. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Remon-chan! I meant I thought of a killer prank we could play on the upperclassmen!" She leaned forward and whispered the idea in the green-haired girl's ear.

Remon giggled. "Wow. It's not the crickets in the Headmistress's desk, but I'll give it a seven. I'm in!"

"Great." Kizuna looked out on the stage. "The scene's about to end. Tell you what, you've put up with enough of this crud. You go get the necessary materials, and I'll take it from here."

"_Hai!_" Remon turned and headed out the back entrance.

---

Nagisa sat on the prop couch with Amane and Hikari. She felt trapped. She felt exposed. Now, in one of the most climatic scenes in the story, with Tamao and Shizuma practically in each other's faces, she understood what it meant to be Daisy Buchanan.

"_Your wife doesn't love you_," Shizuma told Tamao. "_She's never loved you. She loves _me!"

"_You must be crazy!_" the poet snorted, turning away from Shizuma and sipping some dyed water from her wine glass.

The silver-haired girl advanced upon her until she was facing Tamao again. "_She doesn't love you, do you hear? She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved anybody but me!_"

Tamao's amethyst eyes flashed sorrowfully toward Nagisa. This play was becoming too personal. The redhead gazed warily with wide eyes at the girl she loved --- but the girl who played the man she didn't love.

Amane rose from her seat and pulled Hikari up with her. "_Um!_" she said awkwardly. "_I believe there is a nice buffet---_"

"_Just downstairs_," Nagisa finished, popping up alongside the Étoile couple. "_Oh, it's delightful! We should go---_"

"_Sit down, Daisy!_" Tamao snapped and Nagisa complied. The poet's eyes darted between the redhead and Shizuma. Tension mounted in her voice. "_What's been going on? I want to hear all about it._"

"_I _told _you what's been going on_," said Shizuma. "_Going on for five years._" She smirked. "_And you didn't know._"

The poet let the wine glass slip from her hand. It shattered on the stage and she turned on Nagisa.

"_You . . . You've been seeing this fellow for _five years?" she spluttered.

In Tamao's eyes Nagisa saw a translucence, a clear view into the past, as if the poet had briefly glimpsed it. She realized then that the three of them had crossed that line. This conversation was more than just acting. They were really saying these things. Tamao really wanted to know if Nagisa truly loved Shizuma.

"No!" the redhead cried, jumping up. "I love _you!_"

But that didn't really happen. Shizuma recited her next line and Nagisa remained glued to the couch, her garnet eyes locked helplessly with Tamao's.

---

After the middle school play had ended, Kizuna and Remon began their transformation. They dressed themselves up in old-fashioned suits. Remon put her hair up in a white toupet and pasted on a white moustache on her upper lip. Kizuna also wore a white toupet, but this toupet had its hair styled more so like Donald Trump's.

Kizuna and Remon had transformed into Statler and Waldorf from _The Muppets._

Now the two mischief makers ran in the direction of the high school auditorium. _The Great Gatsby _was close to ending, but the ticket booth was still open. It was imperative, Kizuna said, that they get balcony seats. If the balconies were taken, they would have to settle for back row seats. Fortunately, there was one balcony available, and that was where Remon Statler and Kizuna Waldorf sat, ready to hurl insults down at the performers.

---

Nagisa stood now, between the two who loved her, with her eyes down toward her feet and her shaking hands at her sides.

"_I married him_," she choked, her voice threatening to break into a sob.

"_Daisy, that's all over now_," said Shizuma, holding out her hands pleadingly to the redhead. "_It doesn't matter now. Just tell him the truth --- that you never loved him --- and it's all wiped out forever._"

Nagisa looked up miserably, knowing what she had to say. The mascara caused her to shed blackened tears. Trying to control her breathing, she gazed sadly at Amane and Hikari and recited the appropriate lines.

"_Why --- how could I ever love him --- possibly?_" She looked at Tamao, who had her hand balled into a fist and her eyebrows raised with concern. Then she looked at Shizuma, who appeared to be suppressing laughter. Finally, Nagisa faced the audience and Daisy 'fessed up.

"_I never loved him._"

Tamao stepped forward and grabbed her hands. "_Not at Kapiolani?_"

"_No._"

"_Not that day I carried you down from the Punch Bowl to keep your shoes dry?_" The poet cupped Nagisa's soft face in her hands. "_Daisy…?_" she practically whispered.

Nagisa forced herself to look at the poet. Tamao's opalescent eyes swam with tears as well. The redhead couldn't contain these horrid emotions anymore. Her sob came out like a bark, something she had held in for too long. She seized Tamao's wrists and pushed her away.

"_Oh, you want too much!_" Nagisa yelled at Shizuma. "_I love you now, is that not enough?_" She leaned into her, sobbing into her chest. "_God damn it, Jay!_"

"_It's okay_," Shizuma reassured, hugging the redhead. "_It's all over now._"

Tamao pointed her finger accusingly at the great Shizuma. "_I know you. I know who you are and what you're about. One of Wolfsheim's gang. You…_" And Tamao proceeded to expose Gatsby as a bootlegger. This would destroy him, and yet the poet felt no satisfaction because in the end . . . It really was Gatsby whom Daisy loved.

---

The scene ended and the players stepped backstage. Chikaru met them with an appreciative smile.

"Great job, guys! You all were awesome!"

"Thank you," Nagisa said shyly, wiping away her tears.

Shizuma caught up with the redhead, saying, "I must say, you play a…sentimental Daisy Buchanan. What was with the crying?"

Nagisa shrugged. "Just got into character, I guess."

"Well, you ruined your makeup," said Shion. "Chikaru will have to re-do it."

"I don't mind," said Chikaru. "Besides, Daisy isn't in the next scene. But George is, so you'd better hurry and take your place, Shion-chan." She grinned at her girlfriend as she grumbled and stalked off toward the stage entrance. Then a look of worry crossed Chikaru's face. She turned back to Nagisa. "Do you know where Tamao went? She's in the next scene, too."

"I'm not sure. I'll go find her, if you want."

"It would be much appreciated. _Arigato, _Nagisa-chan."

---

Tamao stood in the darkened prop hall, normally bustling with Lulim techies but now was occupied by no one other than the poet.

What Tamao remembered and craved in a way she could neither help nor understand was the time that distant winter before the Etoile election when she had come up behind Nagisa and pulled her close, the silent embrace satisfying some shared and sexless hunger.

They had stood that way for a long time, the minutes ticking by on Nagisa's wristwatch. The redhead's breath came slow and quiet, she hummed, and leaned against the poet's steady heartbeat. The vibrations of her humming felt like electricity to Tamao and, standing, she fell into sleep that wasn't sleep but something else drowsy and tranced, basking in the warmth of Nagisa's hands enclosing her own.

Later, that dozy embrace solidified in her memory and now the poet tried to puzzle it out. Another foolish, meaningless gesture, perhaps. Yes, it had to be. Just a couple days after that, Nagisa was running to Shizuma, leaving Tamao alone on the stage. What was the meaning of that? And maybe all that had followed after Shizuma's graduation --- from their first kiss at the lake to how they had almost had sex yesterday --- that was all nothing.

"Tamao-chan." Nagisa's voice reverberated harshly in the little room. Great. The last person she wanted to see right now.

"Over here." The poet's voice squeaked on the last word. She hadn't realized she had been crying.

The redhead approached her. "Shion-san says you're needed---" She cut herself short when she saw the tearstreaks running through Tamao's makeup. "...Uh, never mind. Not important. What's wrong?" She grabbed Tamao's hand. Another hollow gesture.

"What are we doing, Nagisa?"

"I dunno. What _are _we doing?"

_Yeah, that didn't make any sense. _She was a writer, and she couldn't formulate her feelings into clear sentences. She started over. "I... I keep finding myself relating more and more to Tom Buchanan. And it's just so sad! Daisy doesn't love Tom. She loves Gatsby."

"Daisy could love Tom," said the bemused redhead. "She _married _the guy."

"But she doesn't love _him._"

Suddenly, Nagisa caught on to the metaphor. She frowned. "Tamao. Shizuma and I are done. We're over. She's a thing of the past."

"But she's back! She's _here!_"

"So? Her being back doesn't make it not over." That made the poet's head hurt. "Ne, Tamao-chan, you don't think you're my second choice, do you?"

Part of Tamao wanted to fiercely deny this; it sounded way too pathetic, even for her. But, as her mother used to say, "honesty is a virtue." So she sighed and said, "I don't like how you behave around her."

Nagisa blinked. "How do I behave?"

"I don't know, you just---lay yourself down like a doormat and let her walk all over you. And I know you to be better than that."

"I never realized I acted like that," Nagisa thought, rubbing her chin. "But maybe I don't like how _you _behave around Shizuma."

"I don't think I behave any differently."

"You totally do!" Nagisa was laughing in spite of herself. "Around me and Yaya-chan and everybody, you're regular sweet old Tamao. But around _Shizuma, _as if she were flipping a switch---" the redhead gave a sharp flick of her index finger for emphasis "---you suddenly turn volatile and... really defensive."

Tamao huffed. "Well, if I _am _like that, it's only to protect you." She looked back up at Nagisa and her eyes welled up in the dim light of the prop hall. "I care about my Nagisa-chan, and I want to know if she feels that way about me, too."

"'Course I do! I would do _anything _for you. You know that... Don't you?" Nagisa raised an eyebrow and scratched her head. "It's funny. You never worried about this before. Why are you like this all of a sudden?"

Tamao told the redhead about her fight with Shizuma. She neglected to mention the former Etoile's intent to propose, but instead mentioned what Shizuma said about their "divine" roles in the play, and what she had said about hollow gestures.

"Shizuma said all that?" Nagisa asked. "Ouch. No wonder you decked her."

"I mean, I hate her fucking guts, you know? But I still believed everything she said. She was just so... convincing."

"She has a way of getting in your head," the redhead agreed. "It doesn't matter if you love her or hate her. She always gets to you. She got to me when I first transferred here. And you know what?" She smiled wryly at Tamao. "Retrospectively, I think that was all I felt for her: sheer bewilderment. But _you---_" she took the poet's hand. This time the gesture didn't seem so hollow "---at first I admired you for your talent and intelligence. But now I feel something _more. _It's more than anything I've ever felt for Shizuma." She squeezed Tamao's hand, leaned her head against hers. "I love you, Tamao. I hope you know that. I love you very, very much."

The poet began to cry again, this time for a different reason. They were free. Not even the most loved ex-member of the student body could break their bond. Not even the Great Alexander could break their bond. Nagisa pulled back with a gentle smile and said, "But you _are _seriously needed for the next scene."

Tamao nodded and ran out of the prop hall, leaving her ghosts and her doubts behind.

---

Kizuna and Remon's plot came into action at the very end of the play. The entire cast was on the stage, taking bows. Kizuna nudged Remon and, using their best Statler and Waldorf voices, began to holler.

"It was wonderful!"

"I loved it!"

"Bravo!"

"It was great!"

"Ehh, it was okay!"

"It wasn't bad!"

"There were parts of it I didn't care for!"

"Could've been better!"

"It was pretty terrible!"

"It was bad!"

"Boo!"

And the audience was roaring with laughter. Even the cast of _The Great Gatsby _found it funny; Nagisa wasn't so much bowing but doubling over with laughter. The Statler and Waldorf prank was just the icing upon this year's Drama Festival. It was official: _The Great Gatsby _was a hit.


	8. The Beach!

**THE GREAT SHIZUMA**

**Chapter Eight**

**The Beach!**

When Yaya was a first year she never knew about the summer trip to the beach until it was too late. By the time she had found out, she was already doing horribly in her classes. So the little brunette couldn't go, and had to attend summer school. Had she known about the trip earlier, she would have done better. And so in her second year at Spica, she pulled herself together and got to go to the beach.

This year, her fourth year, was a fairly special year to go to the beach. She would be rooming with Tsubomi. Last year, she roomed with Hikari. It had been a bittersweet experience as she had had feelings for the baby-faced blonde, but the blonde had not been for her.

This year, however, would be one hundred percent sweetness. This would be the first time that Yaya and Tsubomi room together. _Staying in a room with her overnight, _thought Yaya, _who knows what she and I could do? _She couldn't stop a smile spreading across her blushing face.

"What are you grinning about?" Tsubomi asked next to her on the bus.

Yaya snickered. "I'm still laughing at how you nearly fell down the stairs this morning."

Tsubomi huffed. "Will you stop going on about that? I wasn't about to fall."

"Yeah, you were. Missing a step, squealing, and grabbing fast at the banister falls within the definition of 'nearly falls down the stairs.'"

A pause. Then, Tsubomi: "…What?"

"I _said_ . . . Uhmm . . . What was I saying? I forget…"

The pink-haired Spican turned her attention back toward the window, sighing, "Yaya-senpai is such an idiot…"

"Yeah, but I'm _your _idiot," Yaya laughed heartily as she threw her arm about her kohai s shoulders. She was happy. She couldn't remember a time when she was so exuberantly happy. Tsubomi scowled and muttered something about the other girls on the bus and public displays of affection. This only made Yaya happier as her heart swelled with a deeply felt warmth for the little pinkette. "Aw, c'mere, you little wiseass! I love you!"

Tsubomi gave a startled squeak as Yaya pulled her close. The second year warmed up to the embrace before pulling away, murmuring, "I think we should wait until we're alone in our room before engaging in such lewd acts."

Yaya laughed. "Tsubomi-chan, if you think a cuddle is lewd, how blasphemous will you find what we're going to do one of these nights?"

Tsubomi's jaw dropped and the older girl laughed harder. Once again, Yaya had rendered the second grader completely speechless. Tsubomi hated it when she did that. Blushing, she turned away, dismissing their argument.

---

The two Spicans hadn't been in their room long when Chikaru came in. The Lulim President bore with her her Bristol pad, her pencils, and her astrology book.

Yaya shut her suitcase and straightened. "Hey, there," she greeted with a friendly smile.

"Hey, Yaya-chan. Tsubomi-chan." She stretched her arms and sighed happily. "Ah, how I love this time of year. The fresh air is so sweet here. It's like there's different air here than in Astraea Hill." She set her astrology book down on Tsubomi's nightstand. "Not why I'm here, though, in your room." She held up her Bristol pad. "I'm working on a portfolio for college and I'd like to sketch both of you. Do you mind?"

"Not at all," Yaya responded.

"…Tsubomi-chan?" asked Chikaru.

"Sure," the young Spican replied with a smile.

"Great. Thanks." Chikaru sat down on a chair and opened up her Bristol pad. "Which one of you will be first?"

The two Spicans looked at each other. Yaya raised her shoulders in a small shrug. Tsubomi raised her hand: "I'll go."

"Alright," Chikaru smiled as Yaya seated herself on Tsubomi's bed. "I'd like you to pose for me."

"Um, okay." This was going to be awkward. "Any particular pose you have in mind?"

"Yes, actually. I want you to sort of lean forward aggressively, paw the floor with your foot. Oh, and affect a scary look on your face. Not ugly-scary, but still, like, 'Grr, I'll eat you.'"

Yaya laughed. "Chikaru-san, you don't have to instruct Tsubomi to do that. She scares people with her face all the time!"

"I do not!" Tsubomi protested, hands on her hips.

"Oh, that's perfect!" Chikaru exclaimed. "Hold it!"

The pinkette held her pose, and continued to bicker with Yaya.

"I'm not scary. I'm…totally loveable."

"Yeah? So how DID _Julius Caesar _go? I heard you had the first years scared shitless."

Tsubomi huffed. "I demand a second opinion. Those are lies! Dirty ones! Who told you that I scared the first years?"

"Kizuna-chan."

"Well . . . She lied."

"I dunno, Tsubomi-chan, it's not _so _far-fetched," Yaya chuckled. "Those first years are impressionable, and your face _is _a fright sometimes, even to me."

"_My _face is a fright? Hah! I saw _your _face in a horror movie once; it gave my grandfather a heart attack!"

"My face is lovely. I don't know what you're talking about. The Nantos are a beautiful family."

"They still don't compete with the stately Okuwakas, that's for sure."

"Pfft. The Okuwakas are nothing but a bunch of cut-up-hotdog faces. You're a prime example."

"You've only met me from the Okuwaka clan."

"Yeesh," Yaya cringed. "If they're sending _you _as their representative, they must be a hideous bunch."

"This coming from... from... slobberchops herself." Tsubomi was having a hard time coming up with insults. Yaya laughed.

"I know I'm gorgeous. My great-grandmother once said, 'Show me a beautiful Nanto and I can die happy.' So Mom and Dad brought me to her. She's still living!"

"At least I'm not an idiot. You have to be the world's stupidest person in history!"

"So, I have a question," said Chikaru. "Are _all _your arguments this dumb? As a third party, I can say that you _both _sound pretty stupid."

The two Spicans fell silent, their faces bright red. Tsubomi inquired, "Erm, Chikaru-senpai? Why _do _you want me to pose like this?"

"It's part of my theme."

The second year raised an eyebrow. "Which is...?"

"Astrology."

Yaya noticed the book on Tsubomi's nightstand. She grabbed it and flipped through it as Chikaru continued to explain.

"Tsubomi-chan, your birthday is May 16th. That makes you a Taurus."

"...The sign of the bull," Yaya observed, flipping to the chapter about Taurus. She read it aloud. "_Taurus is quiet, affectionate, patient, stable, determined and practical, stubborn and resistant to change._ Well, that last part is certainly true." She read a bit to herself, and then laughed. "Okay, listen to this: _Living with Taurus isn't always easy. You can be dogmatic, secretive, stingy, and suspicious... Everybody knows you have a temper._"

Tsubomi fumed, but held her silence. If she reacted, Yaya would only laugh more.

Chikaru nodded. "There's a lot to be said about the bull symbolizing Taurus. A bull can be a truly kind animal until you antagonize it. In that light, Taurus people can be the sweetest so-and-so's around until you cross them. The key trait to a Taurus is his or her disinclination to forgive."

"Have you read this whole book?" Tsubomi asked. "Cover to cover?"

The Lulim President shook her head. "I've just read bits about each sun sign, enough to get me by."

Yaya hummed. "This is interesting. Listen to this---"

"Is it another barb against my 'temper?'" the pinkette asked hotly. "'Cause if it is, I don't want to hear it."

"It's not," said the fourth year. "Apparently, different signs in the zodiac rule different parts of the body. Taurus rules the neck and throat. It says: 'Many Taurus people have beautiful singing and speaking voices.' Interesting, considering you're in choir."

"That _is _interesting."

"That book," said Chikaru, "can also tell you what diseases you're more likely to get, based on your sign. Since Taurus rules the throat, people born under that sign may get colds or laryngitis. Also, since Taurus rules the neck, that is his or her erogenous zone."

Yaya smirked. It was true. She herself had noticed that whenever she and Tsubomi hugged, the younger girl had a tendency to elongate her neck. During an embrace once, Yaya had nuzzled Tsubomi's neck, and she gave a positive reaction to it. It was almost scary how accurate astrology can be.

"What about you, Yaya-chan?" the second year asked. "What parts of the body does your sign rule?"

Yaya flipped to the Scorpio chapter, looked for the section on health. She read it to herself and suddenly exploded with laughter.

"What's so funny?" Tsubomi asked.

"'Part of the body ruled by Scorpio: the genitals.'"

"Hm. I guess we know what diseases YOU'RE susceptible to."

"Yaya-chan," said Chikaru. "Would you like to pose now?"

"Sure." She passed the book to Tsubomi and stood before Chikaru.

The Lulim President nibbled her pencil eraser pensively. "Your pose has to suggest Scorpio... Don't pose like that!" she laughed as Yaya struck a tarty pose with her hand between her legs. The sight made Tsubomi's cheeks flush and her nose bleed.

---

The beach house they were all staying at was two stories high. On the first floor was the living room and the kitchen; both in one room. There were two sets of stairs on opposite ends of the room. One of them led to the dorms in which the girls from Spica stayed. The other led to the rooms for Miator and Lulim. They all shared the living room/kitchen.

That night Yaya and Tsubomi padded through the main room on cat's feet to the Miator/Lulim side. They were going to meet Chiyo and go to Tamao and Nagisa's room for tea. The rules regarding the curfew were a lot less strict at the beach, but still, no one wants to get caught outside her room in the middle of the night.

Tsubomi knocked on the door and Chiyo immediately threw it open.

"Oh, it's just you," she frowned.

Yaya affected an expression of mock hurt. "Well… It's just you, too."

"Are you gonna come with us for tea?" Tsubomi asked.

Chiyo smiled. "Sorry, ladies, but I won't be going. I've got a hot date tonight."

The two Spicans exchanged a glance. _Date? _Since when did Chiyo date? No one even knew she _liked _anybody, except maybe Nagisa.

Yaya asked, "A hot date with some collage you're working on?"

Chiyo shook her head.

"A hot date with a two-thousand-piece puzzle depicting the _Bluenose II_?" Tsubomi asked.

The Miator librarian rolled her blue eyes. "Okay, you mean it's never occurred to you that I might actually have a date?"

They immediately jumped in with responses.

"Oh no! It's not like that at all! Eheheheh…"

"You're a hell of a catch!"

"Damn fine woman, Chiyo, _damn _fine."

Chiyo huffed and donned her jacket. "Whatever. I have to go meet her out at the beach now, so move over, bitches." And she walked off.

Yaya and Tsubomi watched her go until she disappeared down the stairs. The younger girl looked at her senpai inquiringly. Yaya shrugged and they made their way to Tamao and Nagisa's room.

"She totally just swore at us!" Tsubomi whispered, incredulous.

"So? I swear at you all the time. It's not like it should offend you at this point."

"I'm not offended by it, you doof," the pink-haired girl scowled. "But, you know, it's Chiyo! She doesn't swear. She told me herself when we were first years that she had taken a vow of abstinence from swearing."

"Well, obviously, she's decided to break her vow."

"And this doesn't worry you?"

Yaya shook her head. "I'm more curious about this 'hot date.'"

"Me, too!" Tsubomi hissed, her topaz eyes bright. "Do you think there's a connection? Between the date and the swearing?"

The older girl shrugged. "Possibly. Maybe this girl's a bad influence on Chiyo-chan."

They fell silent for a moment, the recent event weighing heavily on their brains. When Tsubomi next spoke, she voiced the thought on both hers and Yaya's minds.

"Who _is _this mysterious girl?"

---

The next day was a beautiful one --- warm, but with an occasional cool breeze made it better. Chikaru was right about what she said about the air. It was fresh and sweet, so sweet, and so pleasant to breathe. Naturally, everybody changed into bathing suits and headed out to the beach.

Kizuna and Remon tried to go surfing, but couldn't because the waves weren't so big today. Kagome and Chiyo went on a hunt for the numerous pink rocks that decorated the shore. Shion and Chikaru sat under an umbrella; the former doing MadLibs, the latter working on her sketches. Tamao and Nagisa went for a walk along the shoreline. And Yaya and Tsubomi sat together under their own umbrella --- Yaya was sleeping, and Tsubomi was reading _Of Mice and Men._

The pink-haired Spican became aware of a presence to the right of her. She looked up, up, up right into the narrow eyes of Kenjou Kaname. Tsubomi forced a smile and muttered a shy hello.

Rather than saying hello back, Kaname kneeled and said, "Tell me something. Do you know what Archimedes' Principle is?" She didn't wait for Tsubomi to answer. "Well, I'll tell you. According to Archimedes' Principle, the faster air moves, the lower the pressure. Inversely, the slower air moves, the higher the pressure." Kaname got a creepy grin on her face. "So imagine how formidable the pressure would be in a vacuum. Do you know what would happen if you take off your helmet in outer space?"

"Your head would implode," Tsubomi interrupted. "I know."

Kaname frowned.

"Kaname-kun!" Momomi approached her from behind. "What are you doing?"

"Just…making intellectual conversation with this nice young lady…"

The brown-haired girl looked at Tsubomi. "Using metaphors again?"

Tsubomi nodded.

Momomi sighed and pulled Kaname up on her feet. "Kaname-kun, how many times have I told you to stop quoting Wikipedia? It's not even accurate."

"You're wrong!" Kaname cried. "It's scarily accurate!"

They turned to go when Tsubomi called Kaname's name. The short-haired girl spun around.

Tsubomi smirked, "That scientific principle you told me about is actually Bernoulli's Law. Archimedes' Principle states that the weight of water an object displaces is equal to the weight of the object itself."

Kaname stared at her, aghast. "You're wrong! It has to be Archimedes' Principle! It must!" She fumed. "What do you know? You're only ten!"

"Thirteen. And my mother majored in physics. You tend to be a science nerd when your mother works in that field."

Kaname started to cry and Momomi pulled her along toward the beach house, mumbling something about a relaxing bath.

---

"Here's what you do…" Tamao said. She and Nagisa were further down the beach, in a private, secluded area. The poet was standing behind her girl, using her hands to position Nagisa correctly. "You align your shoulders with the shore. Raise your left knee until your left foot is in line with your right knee." On Nagisa's left hand was a glove. She clutched a softball in her right hand. "Step forward on your left foot when you throw. You ready?"

The redhead smiled and nodded. "_Hai._"

"Okay." Tamao grabbed her titanium softball bat and ran a distance from Nagisa. "Can you throw this far?" she called. "Or should I move closer?"

"No, this is good."

Tamao hefted her bat over her shoulder, bending her knees. "Put 'er right over the plate!"

"What plate?" Nagisa laughed.

The poet removed her baseball cap and dropped it in the sand next to her. It was a blue and white cap, with the Kanji for "Panthers" on it. "This plate."

Nagisa threw a few lousy pitches. Tamao couldn't even hit any of them. She knew a bum pitch when she saw one, and when she saw one, she stepped back away from the plate. If they were playing an actual game, the poet would've walked maybe ten times. Once Tamao had to actually jump away from the plate to avoid getting brained.

Finally, Nagisa threw a decent pitch. There was a sticatto metallic _bink! _as Tamao's bat struck the ball, sending it so high, it could've gone into outer space. The redhead's garnet eyes followed the path of the softball --- out, out, out, until it landed with a little splash in the water.

"Aw, Tamao-chan! Now we can't play anymore! Did you do that just to show off?"

"No." The poet approached Nagisa and wrapped her arms around her waist. "If I wanted to show off, I would've hit a bunt."

"A _who?_"

"When you hold the bat out in front of you and lightly tap the ball."

The redhead huffed as Tamao pulled her closer. "Hmph. You and your softball terminology." She put her arms around Tamao's neck and pressed her cheek against the poet's, the two of them gazing out at the ocean. "Hey, have you gotten taller or something?"

"Hm?" Tamao looked up, for she had spaced out in their romantic moment. "Have I?"

"Well, you seem to have. I don't remember me having to reach upward to hug you."

"I guess I have, then."

Nagisa hummed and rocked a little. "I wonder when I'm going to grow?"

Tamao snickered. "Never," she answered in a mock dramatic voice. "Worse --- you'll shrink! I'll have to carry you in my pocket." She laughed at the thought of it. That would be so much fun.

The redhead sighed and leaned her head on Tamao's chest. "Sheesh, Tamao-chan. You're always teasing me."

"It's fun. You should try it sometime."

"Mm, not my style," Nagisa murmured, enjoying the light vibrations from the poet's throat above her head. She closed her eyes, feeling oddly drowsy. The tangible feeling of Tamao's body pressed against hers melted into a warm, floating feeling. It was like they had entered a vacuum where time didn't exist.

"Don't you wish this moment could last forever?" Nagisa whispered, turning her eyes upward.

Tamao's eyes remained closed, and she grinned. "This moment with your face in my boob?"

Nagisa's eyes snapped open wide. She jumped back, her face as red as her hair, while Tamao laughed. "That was more your moment than mine, Nagisa-chan!"

"It was an accident!" Flustered, Nagisa turned away, hiding her face in her hands. Behind her, Tamao giggled and pulled her close to her.

"Jeez, Tamao-chan," the redhead muttered, her face hot with humiliation. They sat down, and when the poet cuddled her again, Nagisa made sure to lean her head on Tamao's shoulder this time.

"It's okay." Tamao ran her fingers along Nagisa's bare back. "Yeah, this is a moment I could live with."

Nagisa moaned a little. "That feels so good."

"Does it?" Tamao traced her fingernails up and down her spine, scratching it lightly. Nagisa felt a fuzzy chill sprout in her thighs and she shivered. Hot jolts shot down her spine. Her breath started coming faster. She could feel her heartbeat in every part of her body. She smiled softly. "I…think I need to lay down…with you."

The redhead sprawled on her back and Tamao sat lightly upon her. Nagisa shuddered as she felt the front strands of the poet's cerulean hair tickle her collarbone. Tamao's opalescent eyes swam and her cheeks pinkened as she leaned forward, bringing her face closer to her girlfriend's.

"Tamao…" Nagisa whispered as the poet's lips hovered achingly close to her own. The desire pulsing within her was tremendous --- the desire to feel Tamao, all of her, in her and around her.

Tamao shivered at the feeling of her bare thighs hugging Nagisa's bare torso. The urge to tear off --- literally just rip off --- her bikini and make love to her until they both exploded was so great that it scared Tamao a little.

Nagisa moaned as Tamao gently brushed her lips against hers, whispering softly. Her arms felt pulpy and weak. Her arms --- the redhead suddenly remembered something. She moved her hands over to Tamao's and teased the insides of her wrists with her fingertips. The poet grunted and shifted into a lying position, leaving her palms open for stimulation. That was what Nagisa was waiting for; she grabbed the back of Tamao's head and pulled her in for a full, warm kiss. The sudden movement spiked Tamao's libido and she began to rub her body against Nagisa's.

_God, I've waited long enough_, the redhead thought. It was the last thought she remembered having that afternoon. _I need to do this right now._

Making a slow, yet aggressive movement, she turned them over so that she was on top of Tamao, smothering the poet with tender, affectionate kisses. She started leading the trail downward and the poet gasped a little, knowing what was going to happen. There was nothing for her to do besides close her eyes and wait for it. When what she was waiting for came to happen, she gave a soft, girly squeal.

"Nagisa. Oh, God. Nagisa…"

The redhead didn't stop. She had pulled off the bottom of Tamao's bikini and was doing something that, well, let's just say the poet had wrung out this fantasy several times before going to bed at night. With every beat of her heart, erotic sensations were shooting out to her palms; she flexed them and that heightened the sensations. She bucked, feeling as if a storm were building within her. Eventually Nagisa couldn't take anymore. Neither could Tamao as her orgasm grabbed her by the throat, by her heart, and she sobbed her beloved's name.

"Nagisa!" she cried as something erupted within her, causing one last shudder to course through her body. Nagisa popped her head up, her face bright red, lips swollen, eyes bright and heated. Sighing, Tamao rolled onto her side. Just when she thought this whole experience couldn't get any better, Nagisa spooned her. Within minutes, they were both asleep.


	9. Sailing Takes Me Away

**THE GREAT SHIZUMA**

**Chapter Nine**

**Sailing Takes Me Away**

No one was more surprised than Tamao in this situation. Understandingly so. How might have _you _felt if your girlfriend had impetuously burst into the room, grabbed your hands, asked, "Want to go sailing?" Then she brings you to the docks where you find her ex --- that stupid bitch you're getting really tired of not strangling --- at the prow, manning the tiller, welcoming all your friends aboard.

Shizuma unfurled the sails, exclaiming jubilantly, "I rented this puppy out for four hours!"

"Yay-ness!" Kizuna cheered. "I love sailing! It's so much fun!" She climbed on board and helped Remon on.

"I've never done it," Tsubomi admitted as she and Yaya boarded the boat.

Tamao bit her lip as her uneasy gaze shifted from the expectant Nagisa to Shizuma's boat tethered to the dock and back again. The girl who could have ruptured her spleen was in charge of this craft. _Should I call Mom now and ask her to change my will? _"I can't believe you're asking me to do this." She was laughing despite the situation.

The redhead looked a little crestfallen. "So you're not coming?"

"Of course I'm coming." The poet brought Nagisa's hand to her lips and kissed her knuckles. "Wherever my Nagisa-chan goes, I go."

"Sailing makes me nervous," Shion said as Chikaru helped her aboard. "What if this boat capsizes?"

"It won't," the Lulim President assured, pulling Shion close. "It's a keel boat. It can't go over."

"Well, if you're sure about this, then I can be, too."

Kaname and Momomi stepped on board, bearing what each of them had packed for lunch.

"Aw, hell no," Tamao mumbled.

Shion rose. "Welp, toodle-oo!"

"_C'mon, _Shion!" Chikaru laughed, pulling her girl back down beside her.

The Spican President frowned. She had always trusted Chikaru's judgment, but this was a bit much.

"_Hola, _Kaname-kun!" Shizuma greeted with a smile. "It sure has been a while, huh?"

"_Hai. _Welcome back, Shizuma-sama."

"Everybody ready to go?"

"No," responded Remon. "Where's Kagome-chan? She said she'd join us."

Kizuna shrugged. "Beats me. She's been acting funny lately."

"She has!" The normally quiet Remon was leaning forward and talking animatedly. "She's so distant, even for Kagome. She hasn't attended Star Gazing lately and she refused to room with us over the summer. She said she was rooming with 'somebody else.'"

"Do you think she hates us?"

Chikaru shook her head. "She doesn't hate you. I'm sure she has her reasons." She smiled.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear --- Kagome came running up to the dock with Chiyo, Pashibaru being carried between the two of them. They scurried on board and sat with Kizuna and Remon, smiling sheepishly.

"That everyone?" Shizuma asked. "Yes? Okay! Anchors aweigh, mates! We're sailin'!"

Momomi untied the thick rope tethering the boat to the dock, the former Étoile lashed the tiller on a continuous eastward course, and they were on their way. The boat, named _Grayprow _by Kizuna, cut through the turquoise water, the sun ticking out the minutes.

Chikaru immediately took a bottle of sunscreen out of her bag, applied some to herself (with some help from Shion), and shared it around. Chiyo slathered herself in it; by the time she was done, she smelled like a coconut factory. When the bottle came around to Yaya and Tsubomi, they both politely refused.

"I don't burn," said Yaya.

"Me, neither," Tsubomi chimed.

The Lulim President shrugged and put the bottle back in her bag. "Suit yourselves."

When the sun reached its zenith, Shizuma proposed they have lunch. Everyone agreed to this heartily.

"Am I hungry!" Tsubomi exclaimed as she gulped up several spoonfuls of soup from her thermos.

"Me, too!" said Nagisa as she wolfed a vegetarian sandwich and started on another.

"It's the salty air," said Chikaru. "It tends to make people hungrier."

A drop of sweat appeared on Tamao and Yaya's heads as they observed their girlfriends' atrocious table, er, boat manners. Tsubomi tipped the thermos way back, smacking the base to get every last drop of soup. Nagisa was gobbling down sandwiches so fast, she was getting hiccups.

"You both are going to make yourselves sick!" Yaya exclaimed.

"You ought to eat more slowly," Tamao added.

Nagisa complied and sat a moment until her hiccups stopped coming. Tsubomi, however, continued to snarf her lunch, insisting, "I don't get seasick."

Momomi was sipping water from her canteen when a hot, rancid stench slapped her nostrils. Blanching, she turned toward Kaname. The short-haired Spican was eating a sandwich.

"_What _are you eating?" Momomi asked.

"Sardine and onion sandwich," Kaname grinned around a mouthful of her lunch. "Want some?"

"Ugh, no. I'd rather eat a two-headed frog."

"Are you sure? It's delicious with ketchup and mayonnaise."

Momomi's face turned green now. She leaned over the edge of the _Grayprow _and surrendered her own lunch to the marine life. "I'm not kissing you anymore," she choked.

Kaname rubbed her back. "Oh, of course you will. And you'll love it." She winked.

After lunch everybody settled down a little bit. Kizuna dozed off on Remon's shoulder. Chikaru and Shion played Slaps with Kaname and Momomi. Chiyo and Kagome horsed around near the prow of the boat. Tamao, Nagisa, Shizuma, and Yaya played Hearts. And poor Tsubomi was laying in the bottom of the boat, looking green about the gills.

"Are you okay?" Yaya asked when she saw her girl bring one hand to her tummy and another to her mouth.

Tsubomi promptly withdrew her hands. "Oh, I'm totally fine." She sat up swiftly and smiled to show how spritely she was. She winced as her stomach heaved painfully; she had sat up too quickly.

Yaya would normally jest at Tsubomi's tough-guy front, but this time she was genuinely concerned. Pinky seriously wasn't looking so good. Her topaz eyes were unfocused, her face pasty and a bit listless. Her ebony eyebrows knitting together, Yaya said, "If you're sick, watch the horizon and breathe through your nose."

"I'm _not _sick." Tsubomi scowled, but it was a bit more mild and flaccid than her usual trademark black stare. Though she insisted that she wasn't sick, Tsubomi inhaled deeply and let her breath pass slowly through her nostrils.

"Your move, Yaya-chan." Tamao's soft voice pulled Yaya back into their game. The lead suit was diamonds. Tamao had boldly led with an ace, Nagisa followed with a ten, Shizuma with a King. The Spican's brain farted and she suddenly forgot where the game was.

"Can I see the score sheet?"

Tamao passed her the sheet. They were in their second round. In their first round, Shizuma had shot the moon. Therefore the former Etoile was in the lead with zero points, and everybody else had twenty-six points.

Yaya scanned her hand. She had no diamonds left. This was the perfect opportunity to throw out that ace of hearts that was soiling her hand. Nothing daunted, she laid it down.

Tamao growled. "Son of a bitch," she whispered as she collected her trick.

"_Gomen ne_," Yaya apologized.

"Oh, it's okay. It's just a game. But since you broke hearts..." The poet laid down the two of hearts. "Eat that!"

Nagisa played a four of hearts.

Shizuma frowned. "It's awfully rude to lead with a heart. That means somebody has to take four points." She laid down a three of hearts.

There was no avoiding it: Yaya was going to take this trick. Grumbling, she laid down a ten of hearts and claimed her "prize."

The former Etoile raised a silver eyebrow at Tamao. "See?"

The poet scowled, but held her silence. She didn't know why it mattered to Shizuma when she didn't even take this trick.

They were distracted momentarily by a sharp yelp from Kaname, whose hand had been slammed by Shion's. The Spican President, suppressing a smile, apologized sheepishly. Meanwhile, Kaname was a truly comical sight, whinging and shaking out her reddening hand. The four Hearts players giggled, then returned to their game.

Yaya decided it was time to flush out that devious Queen of Spades. She led with a five of spades. Tamao played a nine of spades, Nagisa a Jack, Shizuma an ace. The silver-haired girl led with a three of clubs. Yaya played a four, Tamao a Queen.

Nagisa grimaced. "I've no more clubs left. _Gomen nasai, _Tamao-chan." She laid down a King of hearts.

Sighing, Tamao claimed the trick. "'Sokay. What's one little point?"

"_Hai_," Shizuma agreed, grinning. "But I guess we know who Nagisa's more willing to knock to the bottom, eh, _Ta_mao?" The way she accented the first syllable of the poet's name made it sound like "Tom-ao." _Like Tome Buchanan_, she thought with a frown. _Cute. _Her blood boiled.

Nagisa looked horrified. "I don't want to knock down Tamao-chan! I really had no clubs!"

"I don't doubt that you had no clubs," Shizuma responded coolly. "But you could've played a diamond or a spade."

"Whatever, it doesn't matter," Tamao said curtly, throwing down a six of diamonds.

Nagisa played a three.

Shizuma laid down the Queen of Spades.

"Ohh, burn!" Yaya crowed, laughing heartily as she laid down a four of diamonds. She stopped when she realized no one else was laughing.

For the next few rounds, Tamao took the tricks. Nagisa finally asked, "Is Tamao shooting the moon?"

"No," Tamao replied and Yaya held up the four hearts she had taken.

Shizuma smirked. "She's just going to take about twenty points."

The poet was really starting to get cheesed off, but not to the point where she'd confront Shizuma. Grumbling, she threw down her Jack of hearts and claimed the last trick. Everyone promptly announced their scores to be tallied.

"Four," said Yaya.

"Zero," said Nagisa.

"Zero," said Shizuma.

Tamao tallied up the scores. When Yaya asked what they were so far, the poet sighed, "Shizuma is in the lead with zero points, Nagisa in second place with twenty-six points, you're in third place with thirty points, and I'm in last place."

"...With how many points?" Shizuma asked, her green eyes flashing viciously.

Tamao shot Nagisa, who seemed to have not heard what the former Etoile had just said, a meaningful glance. Then she glared at the score sheet and replied, "Forty-eight."

"Whoo, the game's already halfway over! You must've set a record there, Tom-ao!"

The poet fumed.

"How is it that you're so good at this game?" Nagisa inquired of Shizuma.

"It's _her _deck, genius," Yaya replied.

"And I'm just a beast at Hearts," Shizuma shrugged. Then she chuckled. "Aww, Tom-ao, what's with the face? Don't be a sore loser!"

"I'm not," Tamao sulked.

"Really? Because ever since the Etoile selection last year, you struck me as a sore loser."

The poet merely shook her head and cut the cards. _You are really asking for it._

"I didn't think she acted like a sore loser," Yaya argued. "I thought she handled the outcome very well. Why, the very next day she approached Hikari and said, 'I concede defeat. A loss is a loss. Congratulations, Etoile-sama.'"

Shizuma frowned as Tamao started dealing the cards. "Sheesh. You and your card-playing etiquette. It's rude to deal yourself first."

"Why?" asked the poet.

"You might be cheating."

"How is this cheating?"

"What if you wanted, say, the Queen of Spades in your hand. You put that card at the top of the deck and deal yourself first."

Tamao stared at her, aghast. "That's impossible! I just shuffled the cards! I never saw them!"

"You---"

"Get off my back, already! Just get off my fucking back!" She stood abruptly, causing the boat to rock a little.

Shizuma didn't even blink. "Settle down, old sport. You're causing a disturbance." She was right. Tamao's sudden outburst had woken Kizuna. The rocking boat caused Tsubomi's stomach to churn and pitch peakedly. One could literally feel the sailboat brace itself for a battle royale as Kaname, Momomi, Shion, and Chikaru paused their game of Slaps and Chiyo and Kagome turned their attention from the prow of the boat.

Shizuma stood, and stood to her full height. Though Tamao had recently hit a growth spurt, the former Etoile was still taller than she.

"Don't make a spectacle of yourself," Shizuma said calmly. "Look at you. You look like a child. How old _are _you?"

"I may look like a spectacle," the poet spluttered, her voice trembling with fury, "but you can't _always _be the center of attention."

"Why, I never wanted to be the center of attention."

"Of course you did! You did---" Tamao started jabbing her finger at Shizuma "--- when you declared, in front of every student of Astraea Hill, in the middle of the Etoile selection, that you loved Nagisa. It couldn't have been a _private _declaration, like what I did. Oh no. Everybody had to know." She paused. "Even _now _you have to be the center of attention, lording it over everyone with your smug little laugh and card etiquette lectures! Who do you think you are?"

"The former Etoile. I was never just a contender."

Tsubomi had had her back turned to the event; she was laying in a fetal position with her eyes closed, her nauseous head swimming and throbbing with the heated argument. Then the young Spican heard screams, felt a violent pitch of the _Grayprow_, heard a tumultuous splash.

"Tamao-chan!" Nagisa shrieked. "Shizuma-sama!"

_Oh, brother, _thought Tsubomi as she slowly sat up. Her amber eyes widened as she saw Nagisa, Yaya, and Chikaru crowded around the starboard end of the boat. The worst case scenario was a reality: Tamao and Shizuma had gone overboard.


	10. Perilous

**THE GREAT SHIZUMA**

**Chapter Ten**

**Perilous**

"Tamao-chan!" Nagisa cried. "Shizuma-sama!"

Tamao was still in shock from the cold water and the actual falling out of the boat itself. The sails were still unfurled and _Grayprow _was cutting through the water away from the rivals at a breakneck speed. The poet could swim, albeit not very fast, and began to hurriedly stroke through the water, her shorts and underwear riding up in uncomfortable places.

"Help!" Shizuma cried. "I can't swim!"

She was sinking fast. Tamao raced by her and Shizuma caught her by her T shirt and allowed herself to be towed along. The poet grunted when she felt the extra weight suddenly bring her down.

"Shizuma!" cried she. "Let go of me!"

"I can't swim!"

"You'll make us both drown!" Tamao aimed a swift kick at Shizuma's gut. The former Étoile flinched, but held fast to her enemy's shirt. Tamao continued to swim, but found it extremely difficult with Shizuma clinging to her. She gasped when the icy water touched the insides of her ears.

"Let _go!_" she roared, kicking at Shizuma again.

"Help me!" Shizuma sobbed.

Tamao craned her neck so that her head could remain above the surface. "Shizuma, I'm sad that I'm about to die, but I'm not sad that you're about to die Just letting you know."

"Tamao-chan!" Nagisa stood at the back end of the boat, her hand extended to grasp the poet's. Tamao was having a hard time moving her arms --- the cold numbed them, the fatigue weakened them, and…and _Shizuma was too heavy!_

The redhead leaned forward, her center of gravity hanging dangerously over the edge. She extended her arm further. Her fingers brushed against Tamao's. Nagisa took advantage of the contact and snatched the poet's wrist. She braced her heels against the _Grayprow _and yanked. The result of the pull wasn't so much Tamao and Shizuma being pulled closer but rather a sharp pitch of the boat.

Tsubomi put her hands to her face and moaned. Nagisa grasped Tamao's hand with both of hers and attempted another pull. The boat pitched again, this time more violently, and the redhead nearly fell in the water.

---

Chiyo and Kagome had been trying to steady themselves through the pitching. Then a rock in the boat came that was so formidable, Kagome nearly got thrown overboard herself. But Chiyo had caught her by the arm just in time and pulled her back. Poor Pashibaru, however, was not as lucky. When the Miator librarian yanked Kagome back, the Lulim girl's grip on the teddy bear faltered. With a little splash, Pashibaru landed in the water and began to sink.

"Pashibaru!" Kagome shrieked, tearing herself from Chiyo and leaning over the edge. "Help! Bear overboard!"

Another pitch and Kagome was thrown over. She was quickly rescued by Remon and Kizuna.

Kizuna held the struggling Kagome against her will. "Kagome-chan, you have to be more careful!"

"But…But Pashibaru!" Kagome sobbed.

"It's just a teddy bear! I'll buy you a new one!"

"No!" The cry came not from Kagome, but Chiyo. The Miator girl stepped forward. "Shame on you for even _suggesting _that, Kizuna-chan! You don't even _know _what Pashibaru means to her!" She leaned in so her face was closer to Kagome's. "I'll get him back."

Before anyone could say anything further, Chiyo was sitting on the edge of the _Grayprow. _She took three deep breaths, held the last one, and jumped over.

Tsubomi saw, from her corner, Chiyo go overboard --- voluntarily! Stunned, she sat up, staring with wide eyes at the edge of the boat where the librarian had sat. With a strangled sob, Kagome broke from Kizuna's hold and rushed to the edge. Tsubomi jumped up too quickly for her stomach and staggered to stand next to the Lulim second year.

"Chiyo…" Kagome whispered.

They watched in silence as the turquoise waters rippled by. After about a minute, Kagome started to sob brokenly. She rested her head on the edge of the _Grayprow_, her little body shaking violently. The sound of her crying was the most pitiful thing, and it stabbed the normally hardy Tsubomi right in her heart. It was either a heart attack or an overload of misery that caused the young Spican to sink to her knees, her eyes screwed shut. A painful noise ripped from her throat until it turned into a low, hoarse sob.

"_Baka!_" she roared. "That's all you ever were! Just a blathering, doddering idiot…" She stopped when she saw Kagome cry harder. Tears spilled in abundance from her topaz eyes as she leaned on the edge.

"C'mon, Chiyo. If you come back up, I'll never make fun of Miator's traditions again!" Silence. Kagome hiccupping. "What more do you want? Some money?"

She waited impatiently as the agonized silence stretched out. "God damn it, Chiyo…" Tsubomi whimpered as she laid her head down on the bottom of the boat. She felt dizzy. The boat kept pitching, throwing the seasick girl to and fro. She felt as though she were spinning. For a crazy moment, Tsubomi actually thought that she was upside down. Her stomach clenched and she vomited.

"Oh no!" she sobbed, choking on the words. Her throat burned. Her stomach was constricting and contracting within her. Chiyo was gone. Pashibaru, too. Kagome was only twelve and she had already lost two of the most important people in her life. _If only it had happened to me instead of her. _The guilt gnawed at her tender stomach, threatening another heave-ho. Lamenting her immense sorrow, the Spican rolled away from her vomit and curled up under the bench.

---

Nagisa started when she felt a pair of strong hands clasp around her stomach. She heard Yaya's voice behind her: "Let me help you."

The redhead craned her neck to get a better view of her Spican friend. Her fears were abandoned upon seeing the unquestionable, unwavering strength and determination in Yaya's friendly brown eyes. Trying to mimic that grit, Nagisa brought her eyebrows down over her scarlet eyes and gave a short, strong nod.

"You got them?" Yaya asked. "Good. On three. Ready? One...Two...Three!"

Nagisa cried out as the Spican's hands dug sharply into her gut. She had nearly let go of Tamao, but she couldn't. _I could never. I love her too much._

The _Grayprow _gave a violent throw. Again, they hadn't succeeded in rescuing Tamao and Shizuma. The former was becoming scared --- the cold had numbed her completely and she was having a hard time holding on to Nagisa. Her arm felt like a dead person's arm.

Chikaru came up behind Yaya and brought her arms firmly around her. "You two are going to need help. And rocking the boat seems to be making Tsubomi-chan hella miserable."

Yaya turned and saw the kohai huddled under a bench, pale, shivering, crying. Her heart broke to see Tsubomi like this. She wanted to go comfort her, but she knew she couldn't. _I've already committed myself to helping Nagisa-chan, _she thought with a sigh. _I can't back out._

"On three," said Chikaru. "One, two, three!"

This was the fated yank that would bring the poet and Shizuma back on board. Nagisa immediately took Tamao in her arms, heard the blue-haired (and a bit blue-faced) girl squeak "Warmth..." Tamao was shaking like an earthquake. She practically convulsed in her redhead's arms.

"Tamao-chan," Nagisa whispered. The poet enjoyed the feeling of her hot breath on her cold, sore ear. "Thank God you're okay."

"Let's not thank God just yet." Chikaru was wrapping a blanket around the shuddering Shizuma. "We have to get these two to the infirmary pronto!"

---

With a splash that sprayed Kagome's face, Chiyo's head broke the surface. The Lulim second year was so elated to see the librarian alive and spritely as ever, she failed to notice Pashibaru bobbing along the surface beside her.

With the help of Kizuna, Remon, and Tsubomi, Kagome helped Chiyo on board. Chiyo shivered a bit in front of the brown-haired second year, her azure bangs plastered a bit in front of her eyes. Her white T shirt clung to her frame, revealing a pink bra decorated with red hearts. Smiling, Chiyo held out the soaked bear.

"Here's Pashibaru."

Instead of accepting the bear, Kagome seized Chiyo in a hug so tight it would revolutionize the meaning of "bear hug." When she pulled back everyone was shocked to find anger flashing in her emerald eyes.

"Don't ever scare me like that again! I thought you had died!"

"I-I was getting Pashibaru back for you," said Chiyo, stumbling over her words on account of the cold and plain nervousness.

Kagome sighed and took the bear in her arms. "I'm grateful, Chiyo-chan, I really am. I'm sorry for snapping at you."

"It's okay. I understand. I'm sorry for scaring you."

All traces of anger seeped from her eyes and they swam in the golden light of the setting sun. Her knees trembling, she unsteadily lowered herself so she was sitting on the bench. Chiyo plopped down next to her. Kagome pushed her cerulean bangs out of her eyes, noticing the deep concern that showed in them. The Lulim girl asked, "Are you cold? Would you like a blanket?"

Chiyo shook her head and tugged at her shirt, trying to rid her torso of that wet plastery feeling it gave her.

Kizuna, Remon, and Tsubomi stood nearby, looking bemused. The brown-haired third year itched her eyebrow, saying, "Kagome-chan sure has been different lately."

"Chiyo-chan, too," agreed the roseate-haired Spican. "She never comes to our tea parties anymore." Tsubomi scowled. "Hmph. 'Hot date,' huh? Whatever."

It suddenly hit Remon like a tire iron and she turned urgently to Kizuna and Tsubomi. "Do you think Chiyo and Kagome are, you know, going out?"


	11. Aftermath

As you can see, I've edited this story so it doesn't seem quite as thick. The suggestion came from my girlfriend, who said that great American works like _The Great Gatsby _are lean and easy to read. Hopefully now that I've taken her suggestion to heart, this story will still have a popular readship even when it's done.

* * *

**THE GREAT SHIZUMA**

**Chapter Eleven**

**Aftermath**

Tamao sighed and leaned forward on the bed, chin in palm, staring expectantly at the pacing Nagisa. Shizuma affected a more laid-back pose --- reclining in her own infirmary bed, her hands clasped behind her head. Both her and the poet had gotten a warm bath and a cup of hot tension tamer each. Now they were both clad in nought but terry-cloth robes.

Nagisa ceased pacing and leaned back against the wall, her hands shoved deep in her pockets, her garnet eyes turned upward. The tension in the room was so like a guillotine, hovering over them, milling closer with every pendulum swing. Nobody seemed to want to speak, lest her words break the final twine of rope holding the guillotine apart from them.

Tamao caught Nagisa wincing and asked if she was okay.

"I'm fine," the redhead mumbled. "My stomach's a little bruised. Must've happened when Yaya helped me rescue you."

"I'm a little bit miffed, Nagisa," Shizuma spoke up.

"Are you now? After I saved your life?"

"Come on. You didn't _intend _to save my life. You just wanted to save Tamao's, and I was along for the ride." She glared. "What would've happened if I hadn't caught on to her shirt, or if she'd succeeded in shaking me off?"

"Try this," Nagisa snarled, leaning on Shizuma's bedside. "What would've happened if you hadn't been a bitch and hadn't dangled me in front of her?"

The former Étoile sat up, eyes blazing. "Such language! How unlike you to use such foul words. To me you talk this way? You shouldn't even talk to a friend that way!"

"_Gomen ne. _But I don't appreciate it, Shizuma. You using our old relationship just to antagonize Tamao. Is that all we were to you? A tool to hurt other people?" Nagisa caught Tamao smiling smugly at Shizuma and turned on her.

"And you," she snapped, walking over to the poet's bed. "I don't know if you've realized it yet, but there are more diplomatic ways to manage your anger toward Shizuma. As you saw, the stuff she says makes me mad, too, but you don't see _me _attacking her, do you?"

"No," mumbled Tamao, looking rather shame-faced. "I'm sorry."

"Can you please try not to do that again?"

"_Hai_," she responded, her opalescent eyes shining with earnesty. "Anything for you."

"Okay," Nagisa sighed. She took Tamao's hand and helped her up. "Are you well? Do you want to return to our room?"

The poet nodded and allowed herself to be pulled toward the door.

"Wait. That was it?" Shizuma blinked. "You yelled at me more than you did her."

"She apologized," the redhead replied flatly, "even though she didn't start it." She pulled Tamao out the door and closed it deftly before Shizuma could say anything more.

---

At the beach house, Yaya and Tsubomi sat cross-legged on their beds, facing each other. Yaya was shivering from having all that cold water splash all over her. Tsubomi shivered a bit, too, but for her own reasons. Her face and ears were lightly pinkened with sunburn. Yaya hadn't burned, but tanned a little.

"I'm suh-so cold!" she griped.

"Too bad you don't wear sweaters," Tsubomi retorted with her signature smirk. "I'm nice and toasty." Her smile faded and she brought her hands to her warm face. "I'm gonna be hot for a while."

"You've always been hot."

"Ahh…" Tsubomi was too tired to argue. She pulled her sweater off over her head, wincing as the cashmere passed over her burned skin. She laid back in her powder blue polo and skirt, ocher eyes glued to the ceiling.

"I got an idea!" Yaya stood and walked over to the duffel bag, which had been casually tossed in the corner. "I forgot I brought this with me!" She rummaged through it and emerged with a certain article of clothing.

Tsubomi smiled, her eyes only half open. "My sweater?" She blinked. "Did you steal that?"

"No. You left it in my room that day before the choir concert. Remember?"

"Oh, yeah. Duh." How could she forget? That was her first kiss with Yaya.

"I've never worn this," Yaya admitted as she pulled it over her head, "but I sleep with it every night. It gives me good dreams."

Tsubomi's eyes flickered. She closed them. "Do I want to know what sorts of things Yaya-senpai dreams about?"

"Who knows --- you may experience them someday!" Yaya chuckled. "Jeez, this sweater is tiny! You're more of a shrimp than I thought!" When she heard no snappish retort, she turned around to find Tsubomi fast asleep.

Yaya smiled. Tsubomi was so cute when she slept. She always slept with her arm up on her pillow above her head. She was mildly funny, too. Every morning she awoke crabby, unable to use her arm, for there was no circulation in it.

The older girl strolled up to the younger girl's bed, repositioned her arm so that it rested on her tummy, and brushed her pink bangs out of her face. "Sweet dreams, Tsubomi-chan," she whispered and kissed her cheek.

---

Chiyo popped out of the infirmary, feeling better than ever. She felt strong. She felt like she could do anything. She knew what she had to do, and she could do it.

She had been treated for hypothermia, just as a precaution. The infirmary keeper's fears were unfounded, because Chiyo was as healthy as a horse. So the librarian was released. She found Remon and Kizuna and asked them if they knew where Kagome was. The former smiled and told her to look around the docks.

Chiyo found Kagome sitting on the edge of the dock, wrapped in a blanket, and spacing out as she did. The Miator librarian sat down next to her. She casually swung her feet a little. They both sat in silence.

"Whacha thinking about?" Chiyo asked.

Kagome was quiet a moment. Then: "About Pashibaru." She lived deep within her body. Messages took a long time coming out and getting in. "Specifically, what you said to Kizuna-chan about Pashibaru."

Chiyo looked at her. "Again, I'm sorry for scaring you. But I couldn't believe Kizuna would even have the _audacity _to merely suggest buying you a new bear."

"Pashibaru is special."

"_Hai._"

"I…don't get presents like this from friends very often, but Pashibaru is still…" She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Very special," she said again. "Almost as special as the person who gave him to me." She looked at Chiyo. "I hope that person knows how special she is to me."

A huge smile spread across Chiyo's young face. "Of course I do."

Kagome held her blanket open, inviting the librarian to sit under it with her. Chiyo accepted and within a few minutes they had deepened their intimacy considerably. Chiyo sighed. Pashibaru…She remembered that day, approximately two years ago, when she had given the bear to Kagome.

"Do…you remember that day?" she asked. "The day I gave you Pashibaru?"

The Lulim girl got a faraway look in her sleepy green eyes. She nodded. "We were about to go our separate ways: you to Miator, I to Lulim."

"You were scared we'd never see each other again."

"It was a fairly rational fear at the time, even if it was misplaced. You told me that if I kept Pashibaru with me…it would be like having you with me all the time." Kagome smiled and pressed closer to Chiyo. "It made going to a new school a lot easier. Everytime I look at Pashibaru, I think of all the fun we had at St. Olaf Primary. You really were with me this entire time."

"In class," Chiyo smiled.

"In the cathedral."

"In your bed."

"In my bath."

Chiyo's face got red and Kagome laughed. No one else in Astraea Hill had ever heard Kagome laugh. It was such a nice laugh. Light, quiet, tinkley. Kind of musical. _She should've joined the Saintly Chorus, _Chiyo thought.

"Oh, Chiyo," Kagome giggled and, without really thinking about it, kissed her gently on the lips.

Chiyo stared at her dumbly. Kagome knew she hadn't been expecting that, and asked, "Was that okay?"

Chiyo's eyes snapped open wide. "_Hai. _That was just fine." She blushed. "Is it okay if I kiss you?"

Kagome nodded.

So they shared an evening of light, but passionate kisses. Above them shone a full moon, with Venus twinkling nearby.

* * *

If this were an actual book, I'd divide it into three parts. Part One was the play. We've just finished Part Two, about the beach. Next up is Part Three, which deals with the Etoile battle/selection. The problem is: What will Setsuko, the President of Miator, do about Shizuma if she wants to enter Tamao and Nagisa?

However, that part won't be up immediately as I've started to work on another story that I'm eager to publish. It's the LS x-over SP! story, titled "School Spirit." Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about this story. But from here on updates to The Great Shizuma will run parallel to updates for School Spirit. And it'll take quite a while to put up School Spirit's first chapter because it is insanely long.

Ciao!


	12. Etoile

**THE GREAT SHIZUMA**

**Chapter Twelve**

**Étoile**

The seasons turned. In August, the girls celebrated Hikari's fifteenth birthday; Tamao's sixteenth in September; and Yaya's fifteenth in November. The first snow of the year fell heavily on December 12th. The Lulim hair stylist from _The Great Gatsby_, whose name was Suki, had to trudge from the Lulim Library to the Strawberry Dorms in that mess. Her brown hair, still in its cutesy pixie style, was packed away in a coonskin cap and she clutched her down coat closer to her small body.

Shivering, she bustled into the dorm hall lobby. The delicious warmth washed over her. The light dusting of snow on her hat and coat immediately melted. Sighing, she pulled her hat off her head.

"Suki-chan!"

Suki wasn't startled; she recognized the voice.

"Hey, Tomi-chan," she grinned, her mittened hand raised in greeting.

Hitomi, a tall girl with long brown hair and blue eyes, took Suki in her arms, grunting with surprise. "Your face is freezing!"

"_Hai_," Suki agreed shyly, pulling back to wipe her nose. "I think my boogers froze out there."

Hitomi laughed. Suki always randomly said weird things like that. "Hey, hey! The Étoile candidates have been announced!"

"Huh. Well, I _am _interested, even though Chikaru-san never enters anybody."

"She did this time."

"Really?" Suki's hazel eyes widened. "Who?"

Hitomi grabbed her arm and guided her down a hallway. She pointed to the big red poster on the bulletin board. It said:

_**Concerning Selection of Next Year's Étoile**_

_On December 14__th__ Astraea Hill will be holding its annual Étoile battle in the high school auditorium at 800 hours, and its annual Étoile selection in the cathedral at 1600 hours. The entries for next year's Étoile are as follows:_

_MIATOR_

_Suzumi Tamao_

_Year 5_

_A Class_

_Aoi Nagisa_

_Year 5_

_B Class_

_SPICA_

_Nanto Yaya_

_Year 4_

_Moon Class_

_Okuwaka Tsubomi_

_Year 2_

_5-A Class_

_LULIM_

_Natsume Remon_

_Year 3_

_Theta Class_

_Hyuuga Kizuna_

_Year 3_

_Kappa Class_

"Remon and Kizuna, eh?" Suki nodded. "Good luck to 'em, I say."

"Quite a shocker, isn't it?" Hitomi asked.

"Not as much as Nanto and Okuwaka. They'll be fighting with each other more than the other candidates."

The blue-eyed girl shrugged. "I've no doubt that they love each other. Each couple has their own way of expressing their love. Theirs just happens to be arguing."

"And how 'bout Tamao entering again? Ralph Nader much?"

"Don't say that, Suki-chan. You never know, she might just win this time."

Cowed into silence, and a little embarrassed, Suki pensively rubbed her chin. How did those girls get roped into this one?

---

Chikaru's peaceful afternoon of sewing was interrupted by Kizuna and Remon. The dynamic duo burst through the door, crying, "Chikaru-oneesama!"

A little startled, the red-threaded bobbin flew out of her hands and landed by Remon's feet. The green-haired Lulim girl crouched down to pick it up and Kizuna exclaimed, "Chikaru-oneesama, who are Lulim entering for the Étoile selection?"

Chikaru smiled gently as Remon handed the bobbin back to her. "Actually, I don't think I'll be entering anybody."

"Why?" asked Remon.

"If Miator and Spica want to duke it out, that's fine, let them. I have no desire to entangle myself in their rivalry."

"But what about Lulim?"

"What _about _Lulim?"

"Don'cha wanna enter somebody for Lulim's sake alone?" Kizuna inquired, chewing wintergreen gum. "I mean, Setsuko will enter someone just to spite Shion and psyche her out, and vice versa. But _you _could enter a couple just to see Lulim win for once!"

The Lulim President set down her bobbin. "Who would I enter?"

Kizuna didn't miss a beat. "Us."

Chikaru blinked. "You?"

"Aww, you don't think we could do it?" Remon pouted.

"Oh! Of course I do! But...um, are you sure you're up for it? The battle itself is ten times more taxing than the actual duties of Etoile. Ask anybody. Shizuma, Hikari, Amane..."

"We can handle it," Kizuna smiled as Remon linked her arm with hers.

"Are you sure?"

"Sure as my hair is green," Remon replied. "Look, Chikaru-oneesama, do you know how long Kizuna-chan and I have known each other?"

"No. How long?"

"Since our second year at St. Olaf." The green-haired girl squeezed Kizuna close to her. "We've been together for seven years. We're inseperable."

"We've been through everything," Kizuna added, grabbing Remon's hand. "When I was ten, I lost my mother to cervical cancer." Her eyes swam at the horrid memories. "From the day of her diagnosis, and well after her death, everyday was a struggle. I used to think that it was my fault, that I'd done something to bring her cancer upon her. I called myself a murderer." She closed her eyes to stop her tears.

She had been in a fairly dark mood one day when she was younger, and wrote a short story about a girl who lost her father to esophogeal cancer. A few months later, her parents were sitting her down. Kizuna had thought that this would be one of their parent-daughter heart-to-heart lectures and rolled her eyes a bit. Then the words "I have cancer" were uttered by her mother. The strongest memory of that day, however, was little Kizuna watching the sun go down and thinking, _Come on. The story and Ma's diagnosis have to be more than just mere coincidence._

Kizuna looked back up and smiled. "But Remon was there, supporting me, convincing me everyday that, despite what Ma and Pa said, I was not a horrible person. If it weren't for her, I would've gone psycho." Her tears fell as she gazed at Remon. "I owe ya big time, buddy."

The green-haired girl leaned her head on her girlfriend's. "Kizuna..."

Chikaru stood.

"Where are you going?" Remon asked.

"To enter you two." The Lulim President left the sewing room, closing the door behind her, leaving Kizuna and Remon to sob tears of sorrow and joy in each other's arms.

---

"Where are you taking me, Hikari-sama?" Yaya asked as the Etoile cadette dragged her toward the class building.

"I told you five times already!"

"Well, I forgot! Please tell me again!"

"I'm not even telling you anymore."

Yaya huffed and decided to just shut up and find out.

Hikari brought her to the conference room where Shion and Amane were conversing. They stopped abruptly once the two fourth years entered and Shion straightened. If Amane looked anxious, Shion looked terrified as hell.

"Have you told her yet?" the Spican President asked.

Hikari smiled sweetly as she guided Yaya over to them. "Nope. I leave that all to you, Miss President."

"Cheeky little kohai," Shion groaned.

It suddenly hit Yaya. "Oh man, Hikari, are you asking me to run for student government?"

"Well... Technically, yes."

The raven-haired girl was practically jumping for joy. "Wow! Me, a member of student government, representing Spica! What position am I running for? President? Secratary?" Her excitement was boundless. Then she frowned. "Wait, Tsubomi-chan is the secratary..."

"What we have to tell you concerns Tsubomi as well," Shion interrupted with a small smile.

"Eh? What about her?" Yaya blinked.

"Hikari, Amane, and I were talking about the upcoming Etoile selection. After a debate that lasted about four hours, we settled on two candidates." She crouched a little so that she could look the fourth grader in the eye. "One of them is you, Nanto Yaya. The other is a second year, Okuwaka Tsubomi."

Hikari watched Yaya as the message registered. For as long as the blonde had known the brunette, she had never seen Yaya's normally narrow eyes get that big.

"Oh," she said in a little voice.

Shion stood up straight and folded her arms across her chest. "I can see you're quite shocked."

Yaya swallowed hard and nodded.

The President's expression softened. "We understand if you're not ready to confirm, but please consider it."

"Does... Tsubomi know?"

"Know what?" came that grouchy voice from behind. The four girls turned _en masse _to see the pinkette standing in the doorway.

Tsubomi blinked. "Am I missing an important meeting?" She quickly walked in and snatched her clip board from off the table. She stood nervously as a suffocating silence settled over the conference room. "What's going on?"

Shion smiled and approached Tsubomi. "We're glad you came, actually. Your timing couldn't be more perfect."

Yaya scowled at the President. Here she was, dying from fear and anxiety, and Shion was milking this political situation for all it was worth.

Tsubomi clutched her clip board tighter to her chest, her amber eyes bright with apprehension. "Why is Yaya-chan here?" Her eyes flashed toward the person in question, to Shion, and back to Yaya again.

Hikari stepped forward and put a hand on the second year's shoulder. "Don't worry, Tsubomi-chan. This is good news."

"Then just tell me already!" Tsubomi snapped, pulling away from the cadette.

It was Amane who finally spat it out. "We want you and Yaya-kun to run for Etoile together."

The clip board slipped out of Tsubomi's hands and clattered sharply to the floor. She lowered her shaking hands to her sides. She stared wide-eyed at Yaya, who shly returned the gaze from the side. Tsubomi appeared to be trying to say something, but the second year's mouth refused to work. Her lips trembling, she managed to stammer out, "M-me and her?"

Amane nodded, her sad eyes showing concern. "Take your time. You don't have to accept or decline it yet, but---"

"Yes."

The blue-haired horserider blinked. "What?"

"Yes," Tsubomi repeated, her voice sounding more resolute. "That is my answer."

Yaya gawked at her. "Okay, Quickdraw," she said with a chuckle. "Amane-sama _said _we could take our time."

"I don't need or want time." The second grader was smiling softly, blushing, her topaz eyes glittering. The expression on her face was SO un-Tsubomi. "I've always wanted this. Even if we don't make Etoile, I'd still love to stand beside you, to show everyone at Astraea Hill how much I love you, to waltz with you."

"Tsubomi..." Yaya could feel a warm blush rise to her cheeks. She couldn't describe the potent emotions that swirled within her. They burned like fire, glowed like embers. They washed over her like the Pacific Ocean, and Yaya didn't mind drowning in the least. Her emotions spilled over in the form of tears as she hugged Tsubomi fiercely. The younger girl also cried a little.

"Then my answer is yes, too."

---

The student government meeting the next day consisted of not only the councilors, but also Remon, Kizuna, Yaya, and Nagisa. The redhead had been notified of her recommendation after Setsuko had vainly tried to persuade Tamao to run again. Nagisa said she'd be happy to run alongside Tamao, but not if the poet didn't want to.

Setsuko leaned forward in her tilt chair, hands folded, a no-nonsense expression on her face, all business. "This is the first time in the history of Astraea Hill that all of the Etoile candidates came together in the same room before the battle to confer. The reason I've called this meeting is not in the light of an event to come, but rather in the shadow of an event that has passed. Last year, we had a ...disturbance in the midst of our selection." Everybody knew the story, but Setsuko decided to include it in her opening speech anyway.

"Just as this year's Etoile was about to be announced, Hanazono Shizuma burst in --- late, I might add --- and pulled the Miator cadette from the ceremony." She swallowed and gazed sadly at Tamao. "As tragic as the event is in of itself, what compounds the irony of the situation is that Miator would've won."

Four heads snapped up. They belonged to Amane, Hikari, Tamao, and Nagisa. The Etoile and the candidates gawked at Setsuko, their eyes as big and round as saucers.

"You mean... Spica... won... by default?" Hikari whispered.

Setsuko nodded.

"It's in the records," Chikaru agreed.

Shion moaned and buried her face in her hands. "Such a shame on Spica..."

"A shame on both schools," Setsuko sighed. "Miator's former President, Rokojou Miyuki, had been extremely lenient about the situation, readily and heartily accepted the loss, for she was personally involved with Shizuma." Determination flashed in her eyes. "I can't allow that. As a respected member of the student government, I'm proposing a bill."

Shion looked up. "One of your infamous bills?"

"It may live on in infamy," the Miator President nodded. She slid a sheet of paper out to the center of the table. "This piece of legislation makes the tampering and rigging of the Etoile battle/selection a serious offense that may result in permanent removal from Astraea Hill."

The bill passed by a unanimous vote. Tsubomi recorded the results on her clip board and filed the bill with the rest of the bills that had passed. She didn't sit down, but remained standing, and said, "I believe it's manditory that Shizuma be monitored."

"I agree," nodded Setsuko, "but who will do it? I can't, Tomouri-san can't, Minamoto-san can't. We'll be busy."

"I'll do it."

Shion turned toward Tsubomi. "Okuwaka-san! You musn't. You'd only be aiding Miator toward victory!"

Tsubomi set her clip board down resolutely. "Shion-san, I'll be damned if I see Spica win by default again. A default victory is not an honorable victory, and I want this to be an honest, clean battle!"

"Me, too," nodded Yaya.

"And us!" Kizuna exclaimed. "We'll help, too."

"Well..." Shion sighed. "Alright. I guess I'll help." She grinned wickedly. "I do have a secret weapon to use against her."

Setsuko looked at Tamao amid the chatter. "So, do you accept?"

Awestruck by the support and help she was getting, the poet could only nod.

* * *

Ahh, so that was a nice, weepy chapter (not my usual style :P) The next update will be to School Spirit.

NEXT CHAPTER: Shion showcases the "secret weapon" to Shizuma as fair warning, but will it be enough to stop her?


	13. Secret Weapon

**THE GREAT SHIZUMA**

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Secret Weapon**

Yaya lay back in her bed, spent and wet, with Tsubomi butted up against her. The pink-haired girl had long fallen asleep. Yaya giggled; Tsubomi was always so funny when she slept, her mouth hanging open, gurgling, sometimes talking. _She's like a little kid._

Not forty-five minutes ago, they had moved their relationship to the next plateau and it was something that extended beyond the raven-haired girl's steamiest dreams. She had _seen _Tsubomi's orgasm, up close in her smoldering tawny eyes, _felt _it as the younger girl clenched and flexed around her hand. Just after coming, Tsubomi's face had softened, her round cheeks rosy, and she could only gasp Yaya's name before collapsing back in bed and going right to sleep.

Now the raven-haired girl heard a sleepy groan and Tsubomi raised her touseled head from off her collarbone.

"Good morning," Yaya greeted cheerfully.

The younger girl hummed drowsily before sitting bolt upright in bed. "It's morning?" she exclaimed, her throat clogged with sleep. She coughed, clearing it. "How long have I been out?"

Yaya laughed heartily and pulled Tsubomi back down so that her head was pillowed between her breasts. "No. It's still December 13th, don't worry."

Tsubomi blinked a bit, then wrapped her arms around Yaya's waist, pressing close to her. "What time is it?"

The fourth year craned her neck to get a better view of the clock on her nightstand. "About 1830 hours."

Even in the midst of their lovemaking, Yaya could tell Tsubomi was nervous. The pinkette instigated even more arguments than ever before --- their mattress session had somehow resulted from an argument that started off as passionate in one way, and ended up passionate in an, ahem, other way. They were dumb arguments, too, even for Yaya. What color blanket she should have on her bed (yellow would be best). What kind of socks Yaya should wear (tube socks, not anklets). How Yaya should style her hair (a ponytail would be more comely).

But at the same time Yaya felt a feeling of wonder. Tsubomi seemed ...different somehow, or had she always been this way? Hearing the things Pinky had said at the meeting... She sounded so strong, confident, and...mature? Of course her mature front was well known throughout Spica, but it always struck Yaya as nothing more than a show of strength. Now, after this meeting and after having sex, she was becoming more aware of just how vulnerable she really was, and it touched her deep inside that Tsubomi was finally letting her see this part of her.

"You've changed, Tsubomi-chan," Yaya said at last. Catching the pinkette's bemused look, she continued, "Do you remember when we first met?"

Tsubomi smiled. "Yeah. That day at choir practice, when Hikari introduced us." Then she scowled. "I had my hair tied back and you said my ears were big."

Yaya laughed. She remembered. Her exact words had been, "So you like to sing? Figures. You should appreciate music with ears like those!"

"Hey!" Tsubomi had protested, self-consciously placing her hands over them. "They're not _that _big..."

Now Yaya sighed, "Well... back then I used to think you were this arrogant, bratty little punk..." Tsubomi glared and Yaya continued, "But now... God, I don't know. You seem... wiser?" She shook her head. "When did you go from being a loud-mouthed squirt to a _real _Tsubomi?"

"You're different, too," the younger girl said quickly. "You used to be a short-sighted moron, but now you've got some more sense in you." She swallowed. "I mean, the other day when Shion said that you were to run for Etoile, you were more cautious."

"And you jumped at the opportunity." Yaya smiled. "Seems we've swapped roles here."

Tsubomi snorted. "I could never be like you. You're still an idiot."

Yaya laughed heartily, appreciating that her running mate hadn't completely changed.

Smiling and laughing a bit herself, Tsubomi propped herself up on her elbow. She rested a hand on Yaya's face. "You're cool, Yaya-chan. I love you."

Yaya grinned. "You're kinda lame, but I love you anyway." She reared up, turned Tsubomi onto her back, and got on top of her.

---

Perhaps she had underestimated her.

Shizuma stood in the darkened cathedral. Tomorrow, in this very building, next year's Etoile would be chosen. One couple would become familiar with bittersweet victory; two couples' dreams would be crushed. Shizuma knew. She compared being named Etoile of Astraea Hill to committing herself to a marriage. Her victory had been bittersweet because she knew she was about to become the single parent of Astraea Hill.

What a stupid world. What kind of god, she wondered, had she been praying to when all He did was put this amazing girl in her life and then take her away?

_The Lord giveth, and then the Lord taketh away. _So true. It was like Shizuma had to say good-bye as soon as she said hello.

Sighing, she opened her ring case and looked at the ring. She was taking a big risk, trying to commit herself to Nagisa. But Shizuma was a risk taker. If you didn't take risks, what did you have left to live for?

But then there was Tamao. What the hell did Nagisa see in that... that _child? _Shizuma knew it was useless to bash the poet, as it would just be a waste of time. She would have to stop being subtle and jus reach inand pluck that redhead from Tamao. Already, a fool-proof plan was formulating in her silver-maned head.

"Shizuma."

The former Etoile whirled around and was faced by Shion.

"Leave her alone, Shizuma." The Spican President made her way slowly up the aisle and stopped a distance from Shizuma.

"Who?"

"You know who. Stop playing games." Shion crossed her arms. "Leave the selection to us, okay? This ceremony is stressful enough without you sticking your nose in."

Shizuma closed the ring case and pocketed it. "You can't stop what is fated to happen."

"Oh, yes I can. Just watch me." She tilted her head. "That wasn't a...? Aw, Shizuma! Don't do that! She won't say yes!"

"Says you."

"She doesn't..." Shion stopped herself and shook her head. This was becoming redundant. If at this point Shizuma didn't realize that Nagisa no longer loved her, she probably never would.

"Anyways," continued the President, "if you interfere with the ceremony tomorrow, there will be repercussions."

Shizuma laughed.

"I'm serious! You'll get permanently thrown off campus."

"Ohh, notice me tremble," she droned sarcastically.

"I thought that wouldn't be enough to stop you." Shion smiled and lowered her chin. "I was on the phone recently with an old friend... Rokojou Miyuki. Remember her?"

All confidence betrayed, the former Etoile stared wide-eyed at the President. "What did she tell you?"

Shion paused to walk further up the aisle, closer to Shizuma. She locked her violet eyes with Shizuma's green ones and said, "Everything. She told me everything about you, about St. Ninnian... about Atsuko. And if you intrude on tomorrow's ceremony, so help me, I will tell Nagisa. Right in front of the entire student body."

"No!" Shizuma roared, stepping forward. "Don't you dare!"

"Just don't interfere with the selection, okay? After that, I don't care what you do."

"That... That's just... Blackmail! You can't do this to me!"

There was no point arguing it further. She had said what she needed to say. If Shizuma felt like testing her, that was fine. After all, it was her who would be paying the price, not Nagisa nor Tamao.

* * *

Hmm, looks like Shion's got some dirt on Shizuma...

The next update will be on School Spirit.

NEXT CHAPTER: The Etoile battle commences. What are the odds for and against Nagisa and Tamao? For and against Yaya and Tsubomi? For and against Remon and Kizuna?


	14. All Is Fair In Love and War

**THE GREAT SHIZUMA**

**Chapter Fourteen**

**All Is Fair In Love and War**

To Remon, nothing is worse than waking up in the morning, the sheets are pleasantly warm and you have your beloved girlfriend in your arms --- and then you realize that today is the day of the Etoile battle. Then the sheets don't feel so warm anymore. Why is that? The green-haired third year contemplated that as she and Kizuna stood in the crowded auditorium lobby.

There was always a big social gathering right before the battle. Food was served and drinks flowed as easily as the students' conversations. Remon compared the party to the calm right before a storm. She was finding it hard to relax.

She felt something prod her side. She turned to see Kizuna staring at her.

"What's wrong?" Remon asked, feeling strangely distant.

"I asked you a question."

"Oh! _Gomen ne. _I was distracted…"

Kizuna beamed and impetuously seized Remon in a fierce hug. "Remon-chan's nervous!"

"Maybe a little…" She leaned into the embrace, her head heavy and throbbing painfully.

"It'll be okay."

"Yeah." Remon sighed and reciprocated Kizuna's gesture. "What was your question?"

"Oh, it was nothing," she shrugged. "I just wanted to know what your thoughts were on Kagome-chan and Chiyo-chan."

Remon involuntarily turned her gaze toward the said couple. Kagome and Chiyo were sitting at a table, sharing a dish of ice cream. Chiyo was talking animatedly and gesturing wildly; Kagome was laughing. Pashibaru sat on her lap, his snout smeared with chocolate.

"I think it's great," said Remon. "Kagome-chan and Chiyo-chan make a harmonious match."

Kizuna huffed. "Well, if _you _think so…"

Remon pulled back. "Kizuna. Do you…not approve of them?"

"Don't get me wrong. I do. But ever since Kagome-chan got with Chiyo-chan, she never spends any time with us. It's like Chiyo-chan stole her from us."

"I understand, I miss her, too. But think about _her _situation. Prior to dating Chiyo-chan, Kagome-chan was always the odd girl out. And also," Remon added, lowering her chin and fixing her lover with her serious stare, "I think Kagome-chan was friends with Chiyo-chan before she met us. So it's more like _we _stole her from Chiyo-chan."

"I get where you're coming from," Kizuna pouted, "but it still freakin' blows!"

"Hi, guys."

Both of the Lulim candidates nearly jumped out of their skins. They turned _en masse _to see Tamao and Nagisa standing right there behind them. Remon's heart thundered from the sneak attack. _It's like they just materialized out of nowhere!_

Kizuna recovered from the shock first. She raised a hand in greeting. "Hiya, Nagisa-oneesama. Tamao-oneesama. You ready for this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be!" Nagisa cheered.

"I'm ready," Tamao smiled, "but I'm still a bit nervous."

The redhead had been holding Tamao's hand, and now she enclosed it in both of her own. "There's nothing to worry about, Tamao-chan. If we just do what we did last year, we're a shoe-in!" Nagisa kind of regretted saying this in front of Remon and Kizuna --- her competition, but also her best friends.

Tamao's smile gained strength as she cupped Nagisa's soft cheek in her free hand. "You're right. It's going to be just fine. I've just been feeling a lot of _déjà vu._" She led a feather-light stroke from Nagisa's forehead down to her chin. "Even if we don't win, I'll still love you."

"I'll still love you, too." Nagisa was blushing, her garnet eyes swimming. "So don't feel too much pressure."

"What's up, girlies?!"

Now the four of them jumped as Yaya and Tsubomi approached the group. Yaya's face was as laid-back and cheerful as ever, while Tsubomi's suggested constipation.

"W-what's up?" Remon stuttered. "U-um, well… Kizuna's cheesed off because Kagome-chan's dating Chiyo-chan…"

Nagisa blinked in surprise. This was news.

"…and Tamao-oneesama's worried that Shizuma-sama will ruin the ceremony."

"I n-never said that!"

"It's what you meant."

Tsubomi spoke up, and her voice sounded quiet and tight. "You should focus more on winning this competition. There's nothing Shizuma can do."

"Yeah," Yaya agreed, pulling her arm tighter around her girl. "I mean, Setsuko-san passed than bill…"

Nagisa sighed. "If I know Shizuma, a piece of paper won't stop her."

"But maybe Shion's secret weapon will," Kizuna spoke. "Whatever it is…"

"Appetizers, ladies?"

The six of them cried out in surprise. A woman stood nearby with a platter of shrimp cocktail. All of them accepted the offer, except Remon, who couldn't eat when she was nervous. Nagisa was just the opposite --- she needed food to calm herself down.

"I guess we're _all _pretty tense," Yaya said quietly.

"Well, tension's good." Tamao's voice only sounded half-convincing. "It keeps you focused."

There was one more sneak attack that startled them so. It was Setsuko, Shion, and Chikaru telling them to head to the ballroom.

---

Shizuma stood outside the auditorium, shivering despite her down coat. She gazed agonizingly at her ring, feeling torn. Regrets swamped her mind. _The ceremony is starting right now._

The former Etoile wished she hadn't bided her time the way she did where getting Nagisa back was concerned. Fate had dealt her several chances, and she had stupidly passed them by. _I may have focused too much on psyching Tamao out. Now it's too late. Or is it?_

Sighing, she pocketed her ring and turned her celery eyes to the sky, as if hoping to find an answer there.

---

They had picked a new waltz for this year, Tamao observed. _Rondo a la something. _It was Italian, she knew that much. But she liked it. It was a waltz she could get behind. Unlike last year, she didn't have to focus on the 3/4 time meter or the tempo changes. _Rondo a la something _didn't have awkward tempo changes. She and Nagisa could glide along the ballroom floor, as if on water.

---

_Just focus on Yaya-senpai and things will go smoothly. _Tsubomi fought to make that happen. Right now her uneasy feelings about dancing in front of a big crowd had to be pushed aside in favor of her feelings for Yaya.

_How come I've never noticed how pretty her eyes are? _Tsubomi locked her golden eyes with Yaya's brown ones. They were very expressive, the pink-haired girl noticed. She compared them to twin pools of chocolate.

Meanwhile, Yaya was comparing Tsubomi's eye color to butterscotch. It was a good thing they'd both eaten before the battle or they would've been mighty hungry.

_If she can find the confidence to dance like this, I can too. _That thought loosened up Tsubomi. Suddenly the crowd seemed to disappear, and it was just the two of them.

---

Tamao got a cramp in her foot midway through _Rondo. _A hammerblow of pain swelled in her foot, causing her to miss a beat. Nagisa, ever the diligent follower, took up Tamao's lead, trying to pass off the poet's blunder as something that wa supposed to happen.

---

To the crowd, Remon and Kizuna were in perfect harmony with the music. Their feelings for each other came through in their waltzing.

However, Remon's apprehensions about the battle kept her from eating or drinking that day. She fatigued quickly in the midst of the waltz, but kept her energy up as best she could. All too soon, though, her vision began to cloud over.

_Ignore it and keep moving, _she told herself. _The waltz is almost over._

The backs of her eyes hurt so bad that it would take a billion years for the light from "hurt" to reach the earth._Just want to lay down…a cold glass of water at least… _Remon could practically feel the condensation on the glass wetting her hand, a prelude to a nice cool draught.

Her vision clouded over completely. She was temporarily blind. She heard Kizuna cry her name, a surprisingly gentle _thud!_ and she had blacked out.

---

Dusk was settling over Astraea Hill. Clouds scuttled in, bathed in opalescent hues by the sun. The color of the snow faded from a shocking electric white to a powder-soft blue.

In the cathedral, Kizuna stood supporting Remon. The green-haired girl had been quickly brought around and the situation was rectified. Still, worry gnawed at Kizuna's insides. Remon's weird eating habits had been an object of Kizuna's fears, and she was also afraid that the fainting incident would screw up their chances of winning. She pulled Remon close to her. _Whether we win or lose, I'm just glad she's okay._

Cued in by a nod from Setsuko, Amane stepped up to make the following announcement: "We will now go into deliberations---"

"NAGISA!"

The cathedral flew open, revealing an exhausted Shizuma. The former Etoile seemed to glow in the light of the setting sun. Each sleek silver strand glittered. Stumbling awkwardly (possibly due to fatigue) she ran up the aisle, stopping a few feet from where Nagisa and Tamao stood.

The poet blinked, feeling another jolt of _déjà vu. _This scene was too familiar.

"I love you!" Shizuma proclaimed.

WAY too familiar.

Without hesitation, Shiuma yanked the case out of her pocket. Now or never. Can't back out now. She popped open the case; the emerald gleamed brightly as she held out the ring.

"Will you marry me?"

Her proposal was met with gasps and exclamations from the student body. Tamao studied her girlfriend's face. Nagisa had seemed nonplussed by Shizuma's presence up until she proposed. Now her garnet eyes seemed to triple in size.

Tamao saw the gaudy ring and immediately recalled that day in June when she and Shizuma had fought over that ring. "Nagisa would hate it," the poet had said. Now her confidence in that statement washed away all her doubts. With a sigh, she relaxed her shoulders. She knew what Nagisa's answer would be.

"Shizuma!" Shion strode forward. "I am very disappointed in you. VERY! I thought you had more sense than this!"

The girl in question seemed to falter for a moment. She looked at Nagisa. In the redhead's eyes, Shizuma saw a translusence, a clear view into the past. _There's still hope yet. I'm doing the right thing._

Shion stepped boldly between Nagisa and Shizuma. "Nagisa-san, before you answer to the proposal, just know that Shizuma did not buy that ring!" She snatched the said object from Shizuma, who had a virtual raincloud forming over her head. "This ring belongs to Hiawata Atsuko, a psychology major from Ninnian, and Shizuma's sweetheart."

Nagisa's shock turned into anger as she thought of Shizuma's accusatory letters. _That hypocrite…_

"Atsuko planned to marry another woman, and bought THIS VERY RING for the occasion! Poor Shizuma only found out the day Atsuko broke up with her. You can only imagine how miserable she was. And angry. She stole the ring from Atsuko."

"You gotta be kidding me!" Tamao released her hold on Nagisa and strode forward. "You harassed us all the way to Kingdom Come for THIS?"

"You're…despicable," Nagisa growled, finding words at last.

"Please try to understand!" Shizuma cried. "I was tired of waiting---"

"So was I. I moved on, just like you did. But you had to punish me. Worse --- you had to punish Tamao-chan, too. Why did we have to suffer for something you did, too?"

The former Etoile looked away. "So your answer is…?"

"No. But you know what? Even if I hadn't known about Atsuko, my answer would've been no anyway."

Shizuma slumped dejectedly as Shion guided her out of the cathedral and, ultimately, Astraea Hill.

Amane, seemingly peeved about the disturbance, continued, "We will now go into delibearation to decide on the winners."

* * *

Sorry for the delay, my dear readers! At first it was due to the fact that I was at home visiting my family, then it was just laziness. But that's no excuse. So I'm back on! But the next chapter, also the last one, will be delayed as well because of school. Algebra is killing me! I'm not satisfied with this installment. When I have time, I'll go over it and edit it. Oh, and I promise to be a bit more responsive with reviews (maybe I should be more so, I thought). If FF won't allow you to review this chapter due to my editing fiasco, PM me your review if you want. Reviews are always appreciated ;)

NEXT CHAPTER: The Etoile is announced.


	15. Good Morning

Here it is, guys! The epic conclusion of The Great Shizuma *plays _Also Sprach Zarathustra_* This chapter was such a delight to write (hey, that rhymes :D) and I indulged myself in a reference to one of my favorite anime and one of my favorite things to watch on TV. There will be a sequel, but I'll get to that later and just let you read this chapter.

btw, the title is "Good Morning," a reference to the Kanye West song. I don't listen to much rap, but I do like that song, and you'll see why it fits with this chapter...

* * *

**THE GREAT SHIZUMA**

**Chapter Fifteen**

**Good Morning**

"I just realized something," nNagisa whispered as the candidates awaited the selection.

Tamao looked at her, her cerulean eyebrows raised curiously, her expressive violet eyes radiating affection and warmth.

"Today is my birthday," the redhead proclaimed.

The poet started, and a virtual sweat drop appeared on her head. _Of course! December 14__th__! How could have I forgotten?_

"Today I am sixteen." The way Nagisa said that made it sound so bleak, as if a person's world ended at that age.

"I'm so sorry, Nagisa-chan!" Tamao couldn't make a scene of this in front of everybody. She grabbed her lover's hand and lowered her voice back to a whisper. "I can't believe I forgot. I must be a terrible girlfriend to have---"

"Shh. It's okay." Nagisa placed a finger gently to the poet's lips. "With the Étoile battle and all, it just slipped our minds." This didn't seem to lighten Tamao's dampened spirits, so Nagisa added, "If I completely forgot about my own birthday, I shouldn't count on you to remember."

The agony melted from Tamao's eyes and her face softened. She offered up a weak smile. "You're right. Happy birthday, Nagisa-chan."

"Thank you, Tamao-chan."

Frankly, Nagisa wasn't a big fan of birthdays anyway. The cake was the highest point, but as far as parties went…Well, an A-1 klutz like Nagisa detested having the spotlight where you can just trip and fall on your ass with an audience. A brief, quiet celebration in the midst of the Étoile selection beat a huge party any day.

This was definitely not the season to wear the dress Yaya was wearing. That was what the raven-haired girl decided as she shivered in the cathedral. Or it could've been plain nervousness that made her shudder so. Her life at Astraea Hill could change forever, or come dangerously close and then snap back to normal. Yaya couldn't decide which would be worse.

She heard a sniffle next to her, and immediately realized that Tsubomi was crying. As much as Yaya wanted to hold the younger girl and calm her down, it would be improper conduct to turn away from the audience. So she put a hand on Tsubomi's shoulder and whispered, "What's wrong?"

"I was horrible, Yaya-chan," she sobbed. "I couldn't dance, I couldn't communicate my feelings effectively, and…I feel like such a monster to be more worried about winning than how you feel."

"Well, you _should _worry about that, 'cause I feel fine." Yaya smiled warmly and moved her hand to Tsubomi's back, playing with her roseate hair. "But I don't like to see you crying, Tsubomi-chan. It kills me inside." She paused and then said oddly, "Come to think of it, I've never seen you cry. You always try to be so strong…"

"I'm not strong! I'm stupid is what I am!"

"Shush. You're not stupid."

"I am." She hiccupped. "What's so funny?" she demanded, hearing Yaya snicker.

"You have the most retarded-sounding hiccup I've ever heard!" Yaya chuckled. "Sometimes you hiccup like that when you're all aroused."

Tsubomi's tears stopped coming. She glared at her girlfriend, her cheeks hot. "Leave it to you to be perverted in such a tender moment!" Her face softened. "But that's something I love about you."

Her senpai smirked. "You just went from angry to romantic in…" She checked her watch. "0.8 seconds. I do hope you're not becoming a _tsundere._"

The pinkette sighed. "Yaya-senpai watches way too much Lucky Star…"

---

Chiyo and Kagome had gotten awesome seats; they sat to the left, near the aisle, and pretty close to the front. They had entered the cathedral with a neutral stance on the competition --- after all, the candidates were all their friends. But now with the building abuzz with nationalist energy (some girls were even placing money on certain candidates), Chiyo couldn't resist turning to wee Kagome and asking, "So who do you think they'll choose?"

Kagome turned her drowsy gaze on Chiyo and held it there. The emeraldescence of her eyes had faded to a dull pine color in the dark. She shrugged. "It's difficult to say. I really have no preference where a winner is concerned." She looked back at the candidates. Chiyo was about to say something when the Lulim girl murmured, "I think all the couples really have something wonderful…

"Both Tamao-oneesama and Nagisa-oneesama are energetic and share a common appreciation of the simple life. That may help them build a future together." She grinned. "Nagisa-oneesama isn't as patient as Tamao-oneesama, but I know Tamao-oneesama knows how to set the pace for Nagisa to follow. Tamao really brings out the best in Nagisa-oneesama, and vice versa.

"Tsubomi-chan's industrious ways provide an excellent ballast for Yaya-oneesama s laziness. They both have big personalities, but in opposite ways. Not the destructive kind of opposite, but…good opposite. Their contrasting temperaments neatly complement each other.

"Remon-chan and Kizuna-chan…" Kagome's smile absolutely _dazzled _with fondness for her best friends. "They get along famously. They're both unpredictable, so things tend to go roughly for them at times. But their love can only keep getting better. Kizuna _adores _Remon's wit and good cheer; when she's inconsistent, Kizuna-chan understands. They are affectionate, devoted companions and more than passionate lovers.

"So…" Kagome looked back at Chiyo. "I don't know. I'll be happy no matter who wins."

The Miator librarian sighed as she put her arm around her girlfriend. Kagome leaned her head on Chiyo's shoulder, hooking her arm around her waist. "It's a shame we could never run for Étoile," Chiyo commented.

"Oh, we could," said Kagome, "if you'd transfer to Lulim."

"What?" The librarian's sapphiric eyes widened.

"Just kidding," Kagome chuckled.

Meanwhile, on the right side of the cathedral, Suki was pumping her fists excitedly. "This is it!" she hissed, her hazel eyes shining in fervor. "Lulim will win. This is the year!"

"You sound like a Cubs fan," Hitomi frowned.

"That Miator couple _looks _like a Cubs fan," the pixie-haired girl retorted. "Red and blue hair…"

"Aw, c'mon, Suki-chan. Tamao-senpai's my French tutor. She's awesome. I'd like to see her win." Hitomi's cheeks reddened as she turned her turquoise eyes to her twiddling thumbs. "Say, uh, Suki-chan…Do you think we could run for Étoile next year?"

A wide grin stretched across Suki's face. "Tomi-chan's so cute when she's romantic!" She pinched Hitomi's cheeks. "Sorry, babe, but that's a fanfic for later!"

The blue-eyed girl blinked. "What?"

"Ah, never mind…"

It was then that the council presidents and Amane and Hikari, who could now be considered the former Étoile, made their way across the front of the cathedral hall. Amane and Hikari bore their necklaces, which they would bestow upon the brand new Étoile. They detached themselves from Setsuko, Shion, and Chikaru, and took the center. The tension among the student body and the candidates was almost tangible. Amane and Hikari shared a brief glance before the former spoke, "Astraea Hill's Étoile for next year is…"

---

"Ladies, please rise to honor our graduates."

The Astraea Hill Wind Band took up their horns and played the opening fanfare to _Pomp and Circumstance. _The sixth years filed in slowly --- the Miator graduates garbed in black robes with green tassels, Spica graduates in blue robes with white tassels, and Lulim graduates in red robes with gold tassels. With a sigh of relief, Remon stepped back from the microphone. She was never good at public speaking. _But, _she thought, fingering the sapphire around her neck, _this is my first duty as Étoile._

As soon as she stepped back from the mic, Kizuna joined hands with her. Remon looked at her fellow Étoile. In Kizuna's exuberant brown eyes, Remon swore she saw their entire past flit by, as if in a flip-book. That day when they were seven and Kizuna chased off some bullies who were harassing the quiet green-haired girl; that was when they first met. When they were ten and a visibly shaken Kizuna walked into class late and whispered to Remon about her mother having cancer. When they were twelve and Remon tearfully confessed her love and begged Kizuna for a return of that feeling. But somewhere in the back of the primary Étoile's mind, she suspected they had _always _loved each other.

_That's it, _Remon thought with a smile. _She sees and accepts my bad side. She lets me see the best and worst of her. That's what being Étoile is._

"It'll be our turn next year, eh Tamao-chan?" Nagisa sighed, watching the graduates pass by.

"_Hai_," the poet nodded.

The redhead looked at her. "Have you thought about choosing a major?"

"Rhetoric, of course." Tamao casually swung her arm, catching Nagisa's hand midswing. "Have you thought about it?"

"Not much. I'm afraid I don't have much of a plan." She smiled sheepishly. The two of them shifted hands so their fingers interlocked. Nagisa tapped her chin with her free hand. "Maybe I'll follow in my parents' footsteps and major in Business."

Though Tamao frowned on the idea of her beloved Nagisa being transferred overseas over long periods of time, she knew she had to be supportive. "That's a very…practical major."

The redhead nodded assent. "_Hai_, but it doesn't sound like fun, so maybe…Liberal Arts…?"

Tamao grinned. "What would you do if your major was French?"

"Choke and die, that's what!"

The poet laughed and briefly embraced her girlfriend. "Ahahahaha! Ohh, Nagisa, haha! I love you."

"I love you, too," Nagisa murmured, her scarlet eyes burning passionately. She leaned in and kissed Tamao on the cheek. Both of them knew that there could only be so many Nagisa-hates-French jokes and I love you's before their lives would split into separate paths. But sometimes it's better to embrace the moment.

* * *

WOOOOO! It's finally done!

So yeah, "Good Morning" is Kanye West's song about graduating from high school, if you didn't know that already.

This last chapter ... and the sequel ... really have me thinking about some things. In the fall, I'll enter my senior year. A year from now I'll be graduating and going to college. I hope I can get into the prestigious university my family went to, but...seeing as my algebra grade is crap, it doesn't look like it... but oh well. Enough about me. The sequel will be about Tamao and Nagisa trying to get into college (even taking a visit to St. Ninnian for some Tamao vs. Shizuma humor). It'll feature a variety of pairings, including TamaoXNagisa (natch), YayaXTsubomi, ChiyoXKagome (more blatantly rather than implied), and I kind of wanted to add my OCs because of this:

Suki and Hitomi are my most interesting OCs. They are based off of me and my girlfriend, but not quite. Let me explain. In terms of appearance, Suki is like me. In terms of personality (outspoken and humorous) she is like my girlfriend. So Hitomi looks like my girlfriend but acts like me (refined and polite). I didn't think much of them when I included them, then I started thinking of what would happen if my gf and I actually went to Astraea Hill and I sort of ran with the idea. Hence, their pairing in the sequel. You'll see them interact with the characters in humorous ways.

I did do sketches of some scenes in the story. I drew Tamao and Nagisa sitting and watching their blue moon. I also drew the scene where Yaya kisses Tsubomi on the cheek (Yaya's pretty hard to draw :S). I drew Suki, Hitomi, and Setsuko. Now all I have to do is get a deviantart and upload them, when I have the time. I'm thinking about sketching Chikaru's sketches (all the SP! characters as their sun signs), but I'm a little gunshy about drawing Shizuma as an Aries. Her hair is easily the most friggin' difficult thing to draw. I hate Shizuma's Hair. Please burn and die in a fire, Shizuma's Hair.

So hopefully, chapter one of my sequel "Aw, Grow Up Already" will be up on Saturday. Hopefully.

Hasta luego, amigos mios! Leave a review please. If FF won't allow it due to my editing tangent, PM it.

PS. Sorry neither TamaoXNagisa nor YayaXTsubomi won, but I would have liked to see Lulim win for once. Yaya and Tsubomi always have next year.


End file.
